Costs, careers and choice: Why Indians are having fewer children
Key takeaways
- India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to 1.9 children per woman – lower than the benchmark level of 2.1.
- Nine years later, that’s a decision they still stick by.
- “Before marriage, we never discussed kids.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to 1.9 children per woman – lower than the benchmark level of 2.1.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Newborn babies lie on a hospital bed in Agartala, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura [File: EPA]By Priyanka Shankar Published On 14 Jun 202614 Jun 2026Bengaluru, India – Soon after Nidhi Agarwal got married, she and her partner decided not to have children. Nine years later, that’s a decision they still stick by.
“Before marriage, we never discussed kids. We spoke about finances and our career goals,” the 41-year-old, who runs a public relations company in India’s tech capital Bengaluru, said. “After marriage, we did have a conversation about children and both of us felt that we wanted to focus on our careers and build companies which could have a bigger impact on society, rather than raising children.”