The cost of success

• Kerala’s demographic transition has led to a rise in maternal mortality, despite the state’s high fertility and mortality rate.

• Kerala achieved the total replacement level fertility rate in 1987-88, a level considered the replacement level for maintaining society’s size.

• This has led to political anxiety for southern states, fearing a disadvantage in the proposed delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha seats based on population figures.

• The theory of demographic transition posits four stages: stable population, rapid population growth, levelling out, and a decline.

• Countries like South Korea are struggling to revive population growth, and incentivizing childbearing seems ineffective due to the drop in fertility rate.

• Governments must prepare for the economic and societal consequences of this transition, including a decrease in the working-age population and an increase in the elderly population.

• Strengthening public finances and social support systems, improving healthcare financing, and prioritizing policies supporting equal household chores are necessary.