Delaying pregnancies could work better than sterilisation for India

Practised on a larger scale, delayed childbearing could significantly curtail population growth

Although India spends 85% of its family planning budget on sterilisation and 1.5% on distributing condoms and other non-terminal contraceptives, one Maharashtra district’s brief experience with a conditional cash transfer programme shows that rewarding couples for delaying having children could work better to temper India’s population growth. And it could bring numerous health, social and economic benefits besides.

In 2007, Satara district introduced a ‘Second Honeymoon Package’ (SHP) that offered newlyweds a Rs 5,000 cash incentive for postponing the birth of their first child by two years and Rs 7,500 for