Fertility Rate Decline in India

Subject – Governance

Context – India’s National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5) recorded a decline in the total fertility rate

Concept –

In a milestone, India’s National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5) recorded a decline in the total fertility rate (the average children a woman has) from 2.2 in the previous survey (2015-16) to 2 in the latest one.
- And here too, it was 1.6 in urban areas and 2.1 in a rural setting.
The dip in fertility is being attributed to a combination of factors, including better contraception initiatives and health and family welfare schemes from the Government.
- But a key factor is the education of the girl child and efforts to improve overall health and nutrition.
Across geographies there is a declining trend, but experts believe that India may still be on the path to becoming the most populous nation.
India has achieved replacement level fertility (pegged at 2.1), defined as the level at which the decline on a sustained basis would result in a generation replacing itself.
According to reports, five States with TFR above 2, were Bihar, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Manipur.
TFR was the lowest in this survey in West Bengal, at 1.6.