NFHS 5 – Women and Children related Findings

After NFHS-5 in respect of 22 States & UTs covered in Phase-I (released in December, 2020), the Phase II report was released recently for India and 14 States/UTs (clubbed under Phase-II) of the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).

• The States and UTs which were surveyed in the Phase-II are Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The key results from India and Phase-II States/UTs NFHS-5 Factsheet

• Sex Ratio: India now has 1,020 women for every 1000 men. This is the first time, in any NFHS or Census, that the sex ratio is skewed in favour of women.
• The Total Fertility Rates (TFR) – The average number of children per women has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level.
• Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially from 54% to 67% at all-India level.
• Unmet needs of Family Planning - have witnessed a significant decline from 13 per cent to 9 per cent at all-India level The unmet need for spacing which remained a major issue in India in the past has come down to less than 10 per cent in all the states except Jharkhand (12%), Arunachal Pradesh (13%) and Uttar Pradesh (13%).
• Full Immunization Drive among Children aged 12-23 months has recorded substantial improvement from 62 per cent to 76 per cent at all-India level.
• Institutional Births: Increased substantially from 79 per cent to 89 percent at all-India Level. Along with an increase in institutional births, there has also been a substantial increase in C-section deliveries in many States/UTs especially in private health facilities.

Improvements in Child Nutrition

• Stunting: It has declined from 38 per cent to 36 per cent
• Wasting: It has declined from 21 per cent to 19 per cent
• Underweight: It has declined from 36 per cent to 32 percent
• Improvements in Breastfeeding: Exclusive breastfeeding to children under age 6 months has shown an improvement in all-India level from 55 percent in 2015-16 to 64 per cent in 2019-21.
• Women with Bank Account: Nearly 80% women now have a bank account as compared to 53 per cent in 2015-16.
• Women who use Mobile Phones: The all-India figure for phone use among women went up from 45.9% in 2015-16 to 54% in 2019-21.
• Land Ownership: Among the 14 states, except for five states/UTs — MP, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Delhi NCT and Puducherry — land/house ownership among women has increased.
• Decision Making and Autonomy: Nearly 88.7 per cent of currently married Indian women tend to participate in the key household decision about healthcare for themselves, make major household purchases and visits to family or relatives.