No longer 'hum do humare do'. Indians want fewer than 2 kids

India was among the first few countries to launch a population control programme as early as the 1950s. The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years, was 5.9. So, the First Five-Year Plan said that family planning would be part of the public-health programme. Some 70 years later, India’s National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) says the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has reached below the population replacement level of 2.1. It stands at exactly 2, down from 2.2 in the last survey. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r It's the ideal number, both men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 said in the survey. If they could choose their family size, they would want to have two children. But from a demographic perspective, it may not be great news. At the current fertility rate, India has started ageing and will see a decline in population in a few years. Demographers and economic planners warn that a greying population puts excessive burden on the working-age population as well as on the social welfare schemes of the government.How big India wants its familyIn addition to the total fertility rate, the NFHS also asks what people think the ideal fertility would be. It's called the wanted fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years if she bore children at the current age-specific fertility rates, excluding unwanted births.An unwanted birth is any birth in excess of the number of children a woman reported as her ideal number.Going by the latest survey, the wanted fertility rate in the country is 1.6 children per woman — ranging from 0.9 children in Sikkim to 2.7 children in Meghalaya, the survey found. This is down from the 1.8 in the survey conducted last time (2015-16). So, Indians increasingly want smaller families compared to what they have now. But the gap between actual fertility and wanted fertility remains the same — 0.4. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r The NFHS-5 found 92% of births in the past five years were wanted by the women at the time of conception – a marginal increase in the trend from NFHS-4 in 2015-16. And while 4% of the births were unwanted at the time of conception, another 4% were mistimed or wanted at a later date.How this changesWomen in rural areas reported a gap between the actual and wanted fertility rate at 0.4 children compared with 0.2 children among women in urban areas. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r More educated women tend to have fewer children. The total wanted fertility rate for women with no schooling is 2.2 children compared to only 1.6 children for women with 12 or more years of schooling, according to the survey.Similarly, the gap between the actual and wanted fertility rates is much higher among women with no schooling (0.6) than women with 12 or more years of schooling (0.2). !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r Money in the household, the survey found, is a determinant of the fertility rate and also the gap between the actual and wanted fertility rates. The wanted fertility rate is 2.0 children among women in the lowest wealth group and 1.4 children among women in the highest. The gap between actual and wanted fertility for the two groups is 0.6 and 0.2 children respectively. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r Why does the gap persist?Because of unmet family planning needs. Awareness is not a problem. Nearly 99% of women and men have knowledge of contraceptive methods — and more are aware of modern methods like condoms and pills (99%) than traditional ones like following the menstrual cycle or withdrawal (75%). When it comes to use, though, the number drops drastically. Just about 69% in India say they use contraceptives of any kind. It is higher than the 57% in the last NFHS but still much lower than the share of people who are aware. And access varies by wealth and employment. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r The other problem is social attitude. When men were asked about women and contraception, about 20%, or one in five, said that women who use contraception may become promiscuous. And more than 35% said contraception is a woman’s business and a man need not worry about it. Because of all this, while a significant share of women do exercise control over family size, about 13% say their family planning needs have not been met.Also read the other stories in this series based on the National Family Health Survey-5Why high fertility among Muslims isn't about religionYounger women are more likely to marry relativesHow different are the sex lives of women and men in India?