No lakh of babies yet

There’s something of a preoccupation with large numbers in India. What other country has its own terms for hundreds of thousands (lakh) or tens of millions (crore) and its own way of writing them down in figures?  With the world’s second biggest population, this fascination with large numbers is unsurprising. In an announcement vaguely reminiscent of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, the UN announced, on October 31st 2011, that the world’s seven billionth person had been born, in Uttar Pradesh. (On dubious authority, it has to be said.)

The idea of unstoppable population growth is a familiar Indian narrative, but it’s noteworthy to see the most recent population and fertility figures. These suggest an overall fertility rate today fast approaching 2. (Just 10 years ago, it was almost 3.) India is still on track, however, to surpass China’s population by 2022. Overall population decline isn’t expected until mid-Century.

Meanwhile, what’s exercising the Times of India this week is the relative declines in fertility among different religious groups. See here, and be sure to scroll down to the readers’ comments. Muslim fertility rates are declining the fastest of all, though you’d hardly think it, given some of the comments. (Not for the faint-hearted these!)

Whatever the chatter from the menfolk, these declining rates mean more time and energy for women to devote to things other than childcare; their aspirations and demands will continue to evolve; and at least a fifth of the world may well be better for it.