Fertility Rate Decline in India
- December 21, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
No Comments
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.