U.S. Births Increase To 4.3M In 2006, Highest Since 1961, AP/Lexington Herald-Leader Reports

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Fertility
Article Date: 17 Jan 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The U.S. is experiencing a "baby boomlet," with 4.3 million births reported in 2006, the largest number recorded since 1961, the AP/Lexington Herald-Leader reports (Stobbe, AP/Lexington Herald-Leader, 1/16). According to a report released last month by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, a 2% rise in births in 2006 put the nation's overall fertility rate over the replacement rate for the first time since 1971 (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/6/07).

An Associated Press analysis found that the U.S. has a higher fertility rate than every country in continental Europe, as well as Australia, Canada and Japan. Experts attribute the increase in U.S. births to a decrease in contraceptive use, a decrease in abortion access, lower levels of education and poverty.

According to the AP/Herald-Leader, the increase in births also likely is the result of a larger population and a growing number of Hispanic women giving birth in the U.S. Hispanics have a 40% higher fertility rate than the overall rate in the country, and Hispanic women accounted for nearly 25% of all births in 2006. However, the CDC report found that births also increased among whites, blacks, American Indians and Alaska Natives but stayed about the same among Asian women.

Many U.S. residents, particularly in the Midwest, have a more favorable view of having children than residents of other Western countries, according to experts, the AP/Herald Leader reports. Religious influence also is an important factor in certain regions, Ron Lesthaeghe, a Belgian demographer and visiting professor at the University of Michigan, said. According to demographers, it is too soon to determine whether the increase in births is the beginning of a trend. "We have to wait and see," Brady Hamilton, a statistician at CDC, said, adding, "For now, I would call it a noticeable blip," (AP/Lexington Herald-Leader, 1/16).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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