Fertility is falling, but fewer women are working: Here’s the data to explain this Indian anomaly | Today’s news

India’s demographic story has taken the country by storm, especially since The Economistas part of an opening story this month, highlighted that the country’s birth rate is falling below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Around the same time, first results from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2023-24 showed India’s total fertility rate at 2.0, and data from the Sample Registration System showed an even lower 1.9 for 2024.