Demography without a TFR obsession: Rethinking birth-rate solutions

Demography may be destiny, but the solutions do not lie in asking women to sacrifice more than they already have

Ever since politicians and public intellectuals internalised the truth embedded in the statement “demography is destiny”, they have been trying to roll back the tide. In Europe and America, they have tried to do this by focusing on restricting illegal immigration, which is impacting their demography, and in India, we think it is all about raising the total fertility rate (TFR). A TFR of around 2.1 live births per woman is considered ideal to keep population levels stable.

 

In October, the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu fretted about falling TFRs in their two states, and indicated that