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