Birth rates among women under 40 throughout most of the USA dropped by 4% in the two years up to 2009, the largest drop in over three decades, according to a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The largest decline has been in third-order births, but second- and first-order ones have also dropped.
In the USA in 2007, 4,316,233 babies were born, a record. By 2009 the number dropped to 4,131,019, a decline of 4%. According to provisional figures for June 2010, the fall persists. Not only have total births dropped, but so have fertility rates. Fertility rates refer to how many babies women aged 15-44 have.
The authors report that the largest falls in birth rates have occurred in western and southeastern states.
The following states had fertility rate drops of over 10% during the 2007-2009 period:
- Arizona
- Nevada
- California
- Orergon
- Idaho
- Utah
- Florida
- Louisiana
- Mississipi
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
Between 5% and 9% drop:
Hispanic women saw a 9% fall in fertility rates, to 93.3 per 1,000 women, the largest fall of any group and the lowest Hispanic women’s rate since 1999. The fertility rate for white women (non-Hispanic) dropped 3% – this group represents over half of all births in the USA. American Indian and Alaska Native women’s rate fell 3%.
The birth rate of females aged 15 to 19 years fell 8% from 2007 to the end of 2009, to 39.1 births per 1,000 women.
The only group of women who had an increase in birth rates were those aged 40 years or more.
Some people say the economic recession may have had an impact on fertility rates. The authors, however, say that their data is too specific to be able to identify factors that may have shaped the current fertility rate drop.
NCHS Data Brief – Number 60, March 2011
Paul D. Sutton, Ph.D.; Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D.; and T.J. Mathews, M.S.
Written by Christian Nordqvist