The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s 2025 State of World Population (SOWP) Report, titled ”The Real Fertility Crisis”, shifts the conversation on fertility away from concerns over declining birth rates to the more pressing issue of unmet reproductive goals. In India, financial limitations have emerged as one of the most significant barriers preventing individuals from achieving their reproductive aspirations.
The report, released on July 10, reveals that one in three Indian adults (36%) have faced unintended pregnancies, and 30% reported being unable to fulfill their desire for children—either more or fewer. Notably, 23% experienced both issues, pointing to a complex crisis rooted in a lack of reproductive autonomy.
While fertility rates in India have dropped to the replacement level of 2.0 births per woman, the report emphasizes that many individuals—particularly women—still lack the ability to make free and informed choices about when and whether to have children. According to Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative, “the answer lies in greater reproductive agency,” which includes the right to decide freely about sex, contraception, and parenthood.
A UNFPA-YouGov survey conducted across 14 countries with 14,000 respondents highlighted the multifaceted challenges people face. In India, nearly four in ten respondents pointed to financial limitations as the leading reason they were unable to have the families they desired. Other contributing factors included housing constraints (22%), job insecurity (21%), and lack of affordable childcare (18%). Health-related issues such as poor general wellbeing (15%), infertility (13%), and limited access to pregnancy-related care (14%) also restricted reproductive choices. Anxiety about the future, including climate change and political instability, added further uncertainty, while 19% said they were pressured by family or partners to have fewer children than they wanted, the report said.
These barriers are central to what the report calls India’s “high fertility and low fertility duality.”
Fertility has dropped below the replacement level in 31 States and Union Territories, yet it remains above replacement in Bihar (3.0), Meghalaya (2.9), and Uttar Pradesh (2.7), highlighting disparities driven by income, access to healthcare, and social norms.
The report highlights that modern fertility decisions are not merely medical or biological choices, they are shaped by the complex realities of contemporary life.
“The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together,” Wojnar stated.
Data from NFHS-5 (2019–21) illustrates the gap between actual and wanted fertility: Bihar and Meghalaya both have Total Fertility Rates of 3.0 and 2.9, respectively, but their Total Wanted Fertility Rates are only 2.2. In contrast, low fertility states like Sikkim (TFR: 1.0; TWFR: 0.91) show more alignment between desire and outcome.
India’s adolescent fertility rate remains high at 14.1 per 1,000 women aged 15–19, significantly higher than countries like China (6.6), Sri Lanka (7.3), and Thailand (8.3), indicating risks to both maternal and child health and adverse effects on education and employment.
While India has made strides in reproductive health over the past decades—lowering maternal mortality and expanding access to education—deep inequalities persist, particularly among rural populations, lower-income groups, and marginalized communities.
The SOWP report points to modern social and economic pressures—including loneliness, unstable relationships, partner support, and gendered expectations of parenting—that compound financial challenges. Together, these create a climate in which reproductive decisions are shaped less by personal choice and more by circumstance.
Despite these challenges, the majority of Indians still prefer to have two children—41% of women and 33% of men—echoing a global trend across the 14 countries surveyed. However, the persistence of unintended pregnancies and unmet desires for children reveals that reproductive goals are still far from being realized.
The UNFPA stresses that the true crisis is not about having too many or too few people, but about the inability of millions to decide freely and responsibly when and how many children to have.
To address this, the report advocates a rights-based approach to demographic resilience, urging India to invest in policies and services that remove structural barriers. Key recommendations include: Expanding sexual reproductive health services with universal access to contraception, safe abortion, maternal health, and infertility care; removing structural barriers by investing in childcare, education, housing, and workplace flexibility; promoting inclusive policies extending services to unmarried individuals, LGBTQIA+ persons, and other marginalised groups; improving data and accountability beyond fertility rates to measure unmet family planning needs and bodily autonomy and fostering social change through community initiatives challenging stigma and building health literacy.
(With inputs from The Hindu)