Fertility Transition in Currently Married Reproductive Age Women in India: 1985-2017

This paper analyses fertility transition in currently married women in India and states during 1985 through 2017 on the basis of average annual number of live births per currently married woman of reproductive age available through the sample registration system. The analysis reveals that in recent years there has been an increase in the average annual number of live births per currently married woman of reproductive age in India and in its most of the states. The analysis also reveals that there has been an increasing concentration of average annual number of live births per currently married woman of reproductive age in the younger ages of the reproductive period which has implications for population growth as more and more growth in the coming years will be due to the momentum for growth built in the age structure of the population. It is argued that in order to mitigate the impact of the observed transition in the average annual number of live births per currently married woman of reproductive age, fertility regulation efforts in India should be directed towards the ‘practice’ of family planning rather than ‘treatment’ of high fertility.