Researchers Report Effects Of Poor Economy On Birth, Fertility Rates

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Fertility
Article Date: 15 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Demographers across the U.S. are seeing signs that women are delaying pregnancy because of the current economic recession, the Kansas City Star reports.

Although 2009 birth rates will not be available for some time, Carl Haub, senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, said he believes the economy is causing a drop in U.S. births this year. For example, data from the first six months of the year from Arizona show a 7% drop in births, Haub said. Missouri's birth rate dropped by 6% in the first five months of this year, which is the biggest shift in the state's birth rate in the last five years, the Star reports. Nationwide, the birth rate fell to its lowest point last year since 2002. The birth rate represents the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age.

Laura Lindberg, a researcher for the Guttmacher Institute, said, "Everyone is frozen in place, scared to make a decision about the future." Lindberg was a lead researcher on a recent study that found nearly one-third of middle- and low-income women were putting off having a child because of the economy. The study also showed that many women were more careful about birth control but that some reported being less able to afford contraceptives.

In Kansas City, Mo., the area's Planned Parenthood clinics have reported a 20% increase in the last year in the number of patients seeking birth control. Peter Brownlie, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, called the increase "pretty significant."

Philip Morgan, a professor at Duke University who studies fertility rates, estimates a 5% to 10% decline in 2009 in the total fertility rate, which is the number of infants born to a woman throughout her lifetime. The rate has been between 2% and 2.1% for a decade, and Morgan predicts it will fall to about 1.85% this year. He expects the decline in births to last 18 months to two years.

Brownlie said, "What all this reflects is a fundamental value in our society that it's important that women be able to make their own decisions whether and when to have kids and to trust they'll make the right decision for themselves and their families." He added that "as their life circumstances change, their decisions will change" (Hobson, Kansas City Star, 10/12).

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