U.S. birth rate lowest since 1920: Blame the economy?

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America's birth rate has fallen to the lowest number on record, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The drop may be due in part to falling birthrates among foreign-born women who immigrate to the United States, according to the researchers.

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Headlines: U.S. birth rate drops to lowest level since 1920

Looking at U.S. census data along with CDC statistics that were collected from 1990 through 2010, the researchers found the U.S. birth rate declined 8 percent from 2007 to 2010, and now stands at 63.2 births per 1,000 women who are of childbearing age. That's the lowest number recorded since 1920 when reliable statistics were first kept.

The U.S. birth rate's peak was in 1957 during the "Baby Boom," reaching 122.7 births per 1,000 women -- almost double today's rate.

The birth rate had held steady at around 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women since the mid-1970s, but has been falling since 2007, likely due to the recession, according to the report.

• Decline in U.S. birth rates slows
• U.S. abortion rates down 5 percent during Great Recession, biggest one-year decrease in a decade
• OB/GYN society says birth control pill should be sold over-the-counter

Since 2007, the birth rate for U.S.-born women fell by 6 percent, and the rate for foreign-born women dropped 14 percent. For Mexican immigrants, the birth rate fell by a staggering 23 percent.

"Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the recession, and the downturn in births is especially sharp for immigrants," D'Vera Cohn, co-author of the Pew study, told The Wall Street Journal.

Despite the declines, the birth rate for foreign-born mothers (87.8 births per 1,000 women) was about 50 percent higher then the rate for women born in the United States (58.9 births per 1,000 women). The researchers say that's because immigrants are more likely than others to be in their childbearing years.

In 2011 there were an estimated 3.95 million births, down from 4 million the previous year.

The full report from Pew Research Center can be accessed on Pew's website.

[babyboybling]

i think its the gays fault

[OutcastSuperstar]

My opinion is that the all time low birthrates are due to the Marriage Strike

You got older guys warning younger guys the pitfall of Marriage
http://happybachelorsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1828

Older men are also warning men about horrible divorce stories and how Divorce Men's Health Deteriorates

http://happybachelorsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1835

As a result guys are bailing out of marriage, opting out of relationships and not have kids. I expect the birth rates to continue to plummet in the up coming years.

http://outcastsuperstar.blogspot.com/2012/11/is-manoshphere-really-dead.html

This is my humble opinion on why the birthrates are very low.

[Chlorr]

I think it's a good thing. I'm not having kids because I don't have a weird complex about genetic immortality or whatever. I'll leave my own legacy, through my own actions. Plus, it makes up for the people who have 3+ kids. The thought of bringing a child into *this* world is terrifying, anyway.

[closethippy1]

This is not good news. Add to the low birthdate the millions of people in jail and disenfranchised by the justice system, the millions of people who've been deported along with the hundreds of thousands of their loved ones who followed and may decide not to come back, the millions of people whose minimum wage is so low they can hardly step outside their homes to do anything, the millions of unemployed and underunemployed, and it's easy to see how the US is depriving itself of a badly needed market that can participate and invest in the economy.
How I wish I could turned the clock back to the 90's.

[swingboy3-2009]

This article has cause and effect wrong. The economy depends on our birthrate, unless the economy gets so bad that people physically cannot have babies. There is a 40 year lag from birth rate to economy. Our birth rate has been declining steadily since the 60's around the world. With an increasing population comes an increasing economy. If you don't believe me just google "Demographic Winter"

[madjek]

It is time to ban all contraception in this country and make owning a condom a capital offense. What the hell are we going to do when the muslims outbreed us? Church attendance by all americans should be required by law. We will get GODS people voted into office and remake the world in HIS name

[PeweesMom]

MADJEK, I am SO sorry that you are SO indoctrinated and under educated. FORCING women to have babies is immoral and evil. We have separation of church and state, drawn to educate people about thumpers like you. People are showing respet to our nations displaced, abused and neglected children by adopting and caring for them. Until your cult mentality can be eradicated by banning religious indoctrination and your abuse and neglect of children in your cults as a mandate from your god, the compassionate and understanding of the REST of this country will be keeping a CLOSE eye on you. You come from EVIL, not from "god."

[lloydbest1]

Not sure if this is true but I'll toss it out anyway.....

Our declining birthrate could also be due, in part, to an increasingly toxic environment where chemicals no one has ever heard of as recently as 1990 are accumulating to the point that they are having an effect on the health of our eggs and sperm.
Bis-phenols, for example are in all of our plastic containers and they leach out rather easily. They also have the unfortunate distinction of being Estrogen analogs and our bodies have trouble distinguishing between the two. Too much of that stuff in women - let alone men - does not bode well for our reproductive health.
Are we seeing an uptick in spontaneous miscarriages and birth defects in those who make it to term? We may well be and while I could not find a source to verify the trend (hint: someone out there could do a search and have better luck at finding something than I), my observation over the course of three decades tells me there is, at least a little.
This, of course, is in addition to relaxed laws on abortion, increasing levels of education for women and access to contraceptives.

In any case the trend, if it continues, is welcome; we have WAY too many people in the U.S. let alone the rest of the world. In fact, no country - not even Canada - is under populated and if we don't exercise all practical birth-rate solutions to reduce our numbers; nature will do the job for us implementing any or several of a number of highly unpleasant death rate solutions....

[MAGNUSWIKING]

Hear, Hear. Mother nature always has her mysterious ways, if not man.

[PeweesMom]

You had me up to "the relaxed laws on abortion." If these rightwingpsychopathicsociopathic biblethumpingmysogynistic wackos understood that EDUCATION, CONTRACEPTION AND SUPPORT of our young people in AMERICA will most likely stop abortion altogether, we will NEVER have educated citizens making educated decisions.

[safari1492]

The truth is that men are finally realizing that having a baby has become a business for some. They have a baby and then take the father to court to collect hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in child support. The economic situation of the father is usually not taken into consideration by the judges, forcing fathers to work two or three jobs while the mom drives a Lexus and at times does not even have to work. And, there is no way out of it as the excuse is that the money goes towards the child's expenses, which is most of the times absolutely BS. Does a child need $5,000 a month to survive or have a good life? I'm not having any more kids and am advising my son and every other man out there to get educated about this issue before even thinking of having a child.

[captainhurt]

bam! right on brother.

[PeweesMom]

WOW! You hate women that much? So, keep it in your pants, use condoms and get a vasectomy. We do NOT need more you on this planet!
You have no idea about the reality of womenh who DO NOT want babies by deadbeat babydaddies like you.

[thecalciumbus]

"Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the recession, and the downturn in births is especially sharp for immigrants,"

Said the person who has never been to a Wal-Mart in her life.

[thecalciumbus]

"Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the recession, and the downturn in births is especially sharp for immigrants,"

Said the person who has never been to a Wal-Mart in her life.