In the last two days, chief ministers of two Indian states have exhorted couples to have more children. While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed concern over the ageing population in south India and asked couples to have more kids, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin made the statement in the backdrop of decreasing population in Lok Sabha constituencies. Referring to an old Tamil adage, he said, “Why should not we aim for 16 children?” On the other hand, Naidu said that his government is planning to bring in legislation through which only people with more than two children can contest local body elections.
While there has been a push towards having more children due to declining fertility rates and an ageing population, there is a steadily rising demographic known as DINK — Double Income No Kids —which refers to people who do not have children voluntarily. They are referred to as childless couples and have their own reasons for not continuing their bloodline. Some DISK families, also known as Double Income Single Kids, are limiting their child count to one due to the rising cost of raising children.
Raising children has become an expensive affair in an economy where the father and mother must work to earn a living..
