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Datanomics: UN bats for choice in Freedom vs Population control debate

The report also highlights India's stark "high fertility-low fertility duality," with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showing high fertility, while Kerala and Tamil Nadu remain well below replacement levels

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Shikha Chaturvedi Delhi

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The UNFPA’s 2025 State of World Population report, ‘The Real Fertility Crisis’, shifts the focus from population numbers to reproductive agency — the freedom to make informed childbearing choices. In India, about 60 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men face barriers to this agency. The report highlights a fertility divide: High rates in North like Bihar and UP, and below-replacement levels in South like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It calls for rights-based, gender-sensitive policies over demographic panic.

Barriers to reproductive freedom

Across India, US, and Brazil, economic concerns are key barriers to parenthood. Nearly 4 in 10 people