Costs, careers and choice: Why Indians are having fewer children

Article excerpt

India's fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level for the first time, dropping to 1.9 children per woman, a historic demographic shift driven by rising education costs, women's career ambitions, and greater access to contraception. The change, which crosses the 2.1-child threshold demographers use to measure population stability, reflects a rapid transformation in family planning preferences across the world's most populous nation. Urban centers and wealthier states have led the decline, though the trend is spreading to rural areas. The shift poses both challenges, an aging population and shrinking workforce, and opportunities for women's economic participation and reduced poverty pressure on families.