SHILLONG: 14th May 2022 (PTI Source)
The TFR decreased from 3.4 to 2. between 1992-93 and 2019-21, a drop of 1.3 points (on a scale of 1 to 5). In the mid-nineteenth century, the rate among women fell below 4 per cent in England; since then it has fluctuated around that level.
Despite India's overall fertility rate decline is encouraging, there are significant inter-regional differences, with five states yet to achieve a replacement level of 2.1 — the fertility rate at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next — according to the (NFHS) National Family Health Survey-5.
According to the NFHS-5, published in 2021, the states with the highest proportion of people reporting good or excellent health are-
India has made significant gains in population control efforts in recent years, with the country's Total Fertility Rates (TFRs), an average number of children per woman, declining from 2.2 to 2 at the national level between NFHS-4 and 5.
“Considering the huge population size and wide demographic range in the country, context-specific policies and programmes will be required for states, which are going through different phases of demographic change,” said Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India.
“Investment in providing high-quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, education, skill development, and gender equality efforts for the young population is critical. Our findings suggest that targeted social and behavioural change communications can be used to challenge social norms, and harmful behaviours, encourage male involvement in family planning and promote gender equality."
The TFR has decreased from 3.4 to 2 since 1992-93, with a reduction of nearly 70%.
According to a recent study, the fertility rate in all NFHS surveys, regardless of location, rises at age 20-24 and then drops steadily.
The children-per-woman number decreases as a woman's level of education rises. Women with no schooling have an average of 2.8 kids, whereas women with 12 or more years of study have 1.8 children on average (UNESCO).
The NMR in the five years before the 1998-99, 2005-06, and 2015-16 surveys were 43, 39, and 30 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively.
Between the 1992-93 NFHS and the 2019-21 NFHS, the IMR fell by 40%.
The IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) dropped by 56% over a 28-yr period.
During this time, the under-five mortality rate decreased at a faster rate than the infant mortality rate.