In Focus Podcast | Should India incentivise bigger families?
Indian policymakers are debating whether to incentivize larger families as the national Total Fertility Rate drops below the replacement level. Some southern states are considering financial or policy measures to reverse this trend, moving away from historical population control slogans.
Why it matters
Shifting demographic trends in India could significantly impact future economic growth, labor markets, and social welfare policies.
For decades, Indian policymakers have encouraged population control, with the familiar slogan of ‘Hum Do, Humare Do’ (We two, our two). However, the recent drop in India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) — the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime — has now dropped to 1.9, below the replacement rate of 2.1, with southern States seeing their TFR drop to 1.3. Last month, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced cash incentives of ₹30,000 and ₹40,000 to women having their third and fourth child respectively, in a bid to reverse that trend.
The article presents a balanced overview of a policy debate without taking a definitive stance on the efficacy of the proposed incentives.
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