Declining fertility rate, teen pregnancy: What the new National Family Health Survey reveals
India Today
The report of the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) revealed that the total fertility rate of India has declined from 2.2 to 2.0, indicating the significant progress of population control measures.
The total fertility rate (TFR), the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years, declined in India in the last few decades. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), the TFR reduced from 2.2 children in 2015-16 to 2.0 children in 2019-21. It was 3.4 children back in 1992-93 when the first round of the survey was conducted.
As per the report, the rate in 2019-21 was below the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 children per woman.
Several factors, like the age at which women begin childbearing, the gap between births, etc., determine the number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime.
The state-wise data showed that compared to the previous NFHS-4 (2015-16), the TFR declined in most states. However, there were only six states where the TFR was more than the national average. Among those, Bihar topped the chart with a TFR of 2.98 children. The other five states were Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26), Manipur (2.17), and Rajasthan (2.01). The lowest TFR was in Sikkim (1.05).
While the national average of the TFR reduced in 2019-21 from 2015-16, its value marginally increased in states like Punjab, Tripura, and Tamil Nadu. However, Kerala witnessed the highest jump in TFR from 1.56 children to 1.79 children in the latest round of the NFHS.
Similarly, Nagaland saw the sharpest decline in the TFR from 2.7 children in 2015-16 to 1.7 children in 2019-21.
Apart from TFR, teenage childbearing (women aged 15-19 who have begun childbearing) also declined marginally between 2015-16 and 2019-21, from eight to seven per cent. Teen pregnancy and motherhood were higher in ten states than the national average. It was highest in Tripura at 22 per cent, followed by West Bengal (16 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (13 per cent), Assam (12 per cent), Bihar (11 per cent), and Jharkhand (ten per cent). It was lowest in Chandigarh (0.8 per cent).
