In India now women belonging to all religions are giving birth to fewer children than before. The fertility rate in the country is continuously decreasing. Fertility rate refers to the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her life. There is a significant difference in fertility rates between the fourth National Family Health Survey conducted in 2015-16 and the fourth NFHS survey in 2019-20. This data has been released by the government this week.
Fertility rate fell fastest among Muslims
Looking at the data, it was also found that the decline in the fertility rate of the community which used to produce more children earlier has also happened more rapidly. The Muslim community has recorded the highest decline of 9.9 per cent. It has come down from 2.62 to 2.36. However, the fertility rate among Muslims is still higher as compared to other communities.
NHFS survey has been done five times
This survey was conducted for the first time in 1992-93. Since then, the total fertility rate has declined by 40 per cent. At that time the fertility rate used to be 3.40 which has now come down to 2.0. This rate is less than the replacement level. The replacement level is the average at which the population becomes stable.
Data from the National Family Health Survey shows that in large religious communities other than Muslims, the total fertility rate has fallen below replacement level. On the other hand, despite the low fertility rate among Muslims, it is above the replacement level. NFHS has been surveyed five times so far. Over the years, the TRF of Muslims has come down by 46.5 percent and that of Hindus by 41.2%.
Fertility data also shows that the number of children is directly related to the education of the mother. Among Muslims, 31.49 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 are illiterate and only 44 per cent have completed schooling. At the same time, this figure is 27.6 percent and 53 percent among Hindus.
It is also worth noting that in the same community, sometimes the total fertility rate varies from state to state. If we talk about Uttar Pradesh, then the total fertility rate of Hindus is 2.29 percent. In Tamil Nadu, the TRF of the same religion group is 1.75. Similarly, the TRF of Muslims in UP is 2.6, while in Tamil Nadu it is 1.93, which is less than the replacement rate.