Number Of U.S. Births Breaks Record
More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any year in the nation's history, topping the peak during the baby boom 50 years earlier, federal researchers reported Wednesday.
There is both good and bad news from the more than 4.3 million births:
The U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend.
However, the teen birth rate was up for the second year in a row.
The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend begun years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older.
For a variety of reasons, it's become more acceptable for women to have babies without a husband, said Duke University's S. Philip Morgan, a leading fertility researcher.
Even happy couples may be living together without getting married, experts say. And more women - especially those in their 30s and 40s - are choosing to have children despite their single status.
The new numbers indicate the nation is experiencing a baby boomlet with fertility rates higher in every racial group. On average, a U.S. woman has 2.1 babies in her lifetime. The highest fertility rates were among Hispanics.
But it's not clear the boomlet will last long. Some experts think birth rates are already declining because of the economic recession that began in late 2007.
"I expect they'll go back down. The lowest birth rates recorded in the United States occurred during the Great Depression - and that was before modern contraception," said Dr. Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health.
The 2007 statistical snapshot reflected a relatively good economy coupled with cultural trends that promoted childbirth, she and others noted.
Meanwhile, U.S. abortions have been dropping to their lowest levels in decades, according to other reports. Some have attributed the abortion decline to better use of contraceptives, but other experts have wondered if the rise in births might indicate a failure in proper use of contraceptives. Some earlier studies have shown declining availability of abortions.
Cultural attitudes may be a more likely explanation. Morgan noted the pregnancy of Bristol Palin, the unmarried teen daughter of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The young woman had a baby boy in December, and plans for a wedding with the father, Levi Johnston, were scrapped.
"She's the poster child for what you do when you get pregnant now," Morgan said.
Teen women tend to follow what their older sisters do, so perhaps it's not surprising that teen births are going up just like births to older women, said Sarah Brown, the chief executive for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Indeed, it's harder to understand why teen births had been declining for about 15 years before the recent uptick, she said. It may have been due to a concentrated societal effort to reduce teen births in the 1990s that has waned in recent years, she said.
The statistics are based on a review of most 2007 birth certificates by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers also showed:
Cesarean section deliveries continue to rise, now accounting for almost a third of all births. Health officials say that rate is much higher than is medically necessary. About 34 percent of births to black women were by C-section, more than any other racial group. But geographically, the percentages were highest in Puerto Rico, at 49 percent, and New Jersey, at 38 percent.
The pre-term birth rate, for infants delivered at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy, declined slightly. It had been generally increasing since the early 1980s. Experts said they aren't sure why it went down.
Among the states, Utah continued to have the highest birth rate and Vermont the lowest.
CDC officials noted that despite the record number of births, this is nothing like what occurred in the 1950s, when a much smaller population of women were having nearly four children each, on average. That baby boom quickly transformed society, affecting everything from school construction to consumer culture.
Today, U.S. women are averaging 2.1 children each. That's the highest level it's been since the early 1970s, but is a relatively small increase from the rate it had hovered at for more than 10 years and is hardly transforming.
"It's the tiniest of baby booms," said Morgan in agreement. "This is not an earthquake; it's a slight tremor."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. There is both good and bad news from the more than 4.3 million births:
The U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend.
However, the teen birth rate was up for the second year in a row.
The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend begun years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older.
For a variety of reasons, it's become more acceptable for women to have babies without a husband, said Duke University's S. Philip Morgan, a leading fertility researcher.
Even happy couples may be living together without getting married, experts say. And more women - especially those in their 30s and 40s - are choosing to have children despite their single status.
The new numbers indicate the nation is experiencing a baby boomlet with fertility rates higher in every racial group. On average, a U.S. woman has 2.1 babies in her lifetime. The highest fertility rates were among Hispanics.
But it's not clear the boomlet will last long. Some experts think birth rates are already declining because of the economic recession that began in late 2007.
"I expect they'll go back down. The lowest birth rates recorded in the United States occurred during the Great Depression - and that was before modern contraception," said Dr. Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health.
The 2007 statistical snapshot reflected a relatively good economy coupled with cultural trends that promoted childbirth, she and others noted.
(CDC)
Cultural attitudes may be a more likely explanation. Morgan noted the pregnancy of Bristol Palin, the unmarried teen daughter of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The young woman had a baby boy in December, and plans for a wedding with the father, Levi Johnston, were scrapped.
"She's the poster child for what you do when you get pregnant now," Morgan said.
Teen women tend to follow what their older sisters do, so perhaps it's not surprising that teen births are going up just like births to older women, said Sarah Brown, the chief executive for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Indeed, it's harder to understand why teen births had been declining for about 15 years before the recent uptick, she said. It may have been due to a concentrated societal effort to reduce teen births in the 1990s that has waned in recent years, she said.
The statistics are based on a review of most 2007 birth certificates by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers also showed:
Cesarean section deliveries continue to rise, now accounting for almost a third of all births. Health officials say that rate is much higher than is medically necessary. About 34 percent of births to black women were by C-section, more than any other racial group. But geographically, the percentages were highest in Puerto Rico, at 49 percent, and New Jersey, at 38 percent.
The pre-term birth rate, for infants delivered at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy, declined slightly. It had been generally increasing since the early 1980s. Experts said they aren't sure why it went down.
Among the states, Utah continued to have the highest birth rate and Vermont the lowest.
CDC officials noted that despite the record number of births, this is nothing like what occurred in the 1950s, when a much smaller population of women were having nearly four children each, on average. That baby boom quickly transformed society, affecting everything from school construction to consumer culture.
Today, U.S. women are averaging 2.1 children each. That's the highest level it's been since the early 1970s, but is a relatively small increase from the rate it had hovered at for more than 10 years and is hardly transforming.
"It's the tiniest of baby booms," said Morgan in agreement. "This is not an earthquake; it's a slight tremor."
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It's just funny that it seems all my smart and successful friends have decided to not have children, or only have one/two... and I see the alarming rate at which some people reproduce... full-well know that the government (us, WORKING, tax-payers) will foot the bill. The sad thing is, that these poor kids are neglected; often the products of ignorance, rather than love - the parents aren't invested at all.
it must be nice to be one of the simple people. It is easy. You deserve 2. It does not matter how you raise them or what kind of parent. Two is the magic number. After that you are a problem, because it is all about the number, not if you are a responsible parent or a good person. No thought or judgement, just a random number, probably picked from some pseudo science book you read back in college. Two.
And who is the idiot blaming the pope for all these children? The church says that if you aren't married, no sex. If people were following the Church's teachings, the birth rate would be about the same as 1932. We allow abortion, we teach about safe sex in school, and surprise, surprise, the birth rate of unwed mothers goes up. Yeah, blame the pope.
You have 20-25 years or so to have a baby. No rush. Think!
Why are women having UNprotected sex with men they're not married to?
40%! Does that make any sense? Ever heard of birth control/contraception, ladies?
Just GOT to have a baby. Especially the Hispanics. The Pope is proud I'm sure. Girls/women think that having a baby is going to make them happy. Fill the void. Make the depression disappear. Unconditional love. For a while anyway. Til it becomes a teenager & doesn't want to be seen with you or listen to you.
-----------------------------------------
But you know, things worked out kind of backward for our society. When women are young and at a prime physically for having children and then caring for them, they often arent married and arent financially secure. When they get all their ducks in a row, it seems the ideal age for birthing has come and gone.
Every couple deserves to have a child or 2 in their lifetime, but after 2 you are more of a problem for society and humanity
DUH????
I.m all for responsbile parenting but I suspect there will be an increase in the number of child abuse cases in years to come...young people simply are not ready to meet the demands for raising a child. In most cases its the girl that raises the child while the male gets to be a teenager. Decisions such as
Prom Dress vs.DIapers, Bottles, and Wipes???
College tuition and books vs. day care expenses and immunizations???
Repsonsible Birth Control vs. having another another baby under the same conditions a few years later???
Its great the American population is replenishing itself but as we move towards a knowledge/information based age what kind of people will the children of these children grow up to be???