Bengaluru, India – Soon after Nidhi Agarwal got married, she and her partner decided not to have children. Nine years later, that’s a decision they still stick by.“Before marriage, we never discussed kids. We spoke about finances and our career goals,” the 41-year-old, who runs a public relations company in India’s tech capital Bengaluru, said. “After marriage, we did have a conversation about children and both of us felt that we wanted to focus on our careers and build companies which could have a bigger impact on society, rather than raising children.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIt was not a straightforward decision.“My elder sister is not married, so there was this pressure from my family that I should have children,” she says. “But not having children was our personal choice since we felt – and still feel – we have larger life goals.”They are far from alone in this decision. Many young people across India, which has seen rapid population growth for decades, are now choosing to have fewer children or not to have children at all.According to government figures, including from the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report – the country’s largest demographic survey – India has been experiencing a falling birthrate for some years, but the reproduction rate had until now remained high enough to keep the population growing.Now, the latest SRS report, released last month by India’s Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, shows that Indi …
