Wanted and Unwanted Fertility in Selected States of India

Abstract

In this report, we propose new measures of wanted and unwanted fertility based on actual and wanted parity progression ratios, and we apply these procedures to NFHS data for eight states in India. In the four large states with high fertility, levels of wanted fertility are high, at three or more children per married women, and the
proportion unwanted ranges from 20 to 28 percent of total marital fertility. In the three states with moderate levels of fertility, the proportions of unwanted fertility are even higher, ranging from 31 to 34 percent. In Kerala, wanted fertility is already at replacement level, and there is very little unwanted fertility.