U.S. Births Continue To Drop For Third Year

ATLANTA -- U.S. births apparently have declined for a third year in a row, probably because of the weak economy.

Births had been on the rise for years, and the number hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007.

But the count has been dropping since then. Last year, it fell 3 percent to slightly more than 4 million births, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's possible the decline is leveling off: The falling birth rate seemed to bottom out in October, November and December. However, it's too early to say whether that marks an end to the trend, said Paul Sutton, a CDC demographer who was the report's lead author.

The report is a first glimpse at 2010 births from state health departments. It doesn't include an actual review of birth certificates or specifics about what's going on in different groups of women. The CDC plans to do more analysis later.

However, the number usually is pretty close to the final statistics, officials said.

Experts believe the downward trend is tied to the economy, which officially was in a recession from December 2007 until June 2009 and is still flagging. The theory is that women who are unemployed or have other money problems feel they can't afford to start a family or add to it.

In 2008 and 2009, the only increase in births was in women older than 40 – considered more sensitive to the ticking of their biological clocks.

A drop in immigration to the United States, blamed on the weak job market, may be another factor in last year's decline.

"Hispanics have higher birth rates," explained Dr. Roger Rochat, an Emory University researcher who has studied fertility and abortion trends

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Comments

[Kenz300]

11:17 AM on 06/21/2011

NO Job, NO home, NO children. NO surprise here.

[Kenz300]

01:03 PM on 06/20/2011

A child needs a home and a family that can provide for them both financially and emotionally.

Less children having children would be a good thing.

[RocheTm]

12:29 AM on 06/18/2011

Great more smart people are having less children. Everyday I see another reason smart people (especially women) are having less children and is scares me. Even my own family has several examples of this, the ignorant mass produce and that is not good for humans in the long run.

[freedom1947]

04:17 PM on 06/21/2011

Are you saying hispanics are ignorant? I assumed it was hispanics that were taking care of americas women!

[whyus]

07:35 PM on 06/17/2011

Oh, oh -- I need company!

[Retrofuturistic]

12:46 PM on 06/17/2011

If women have a choice, they will probably decide not to bring a child into this country--- because we're on the verge of fascism and a Depression, there are no jobs, it's a patriarchy and women cannot be assured of good support at any time from men especially during their child-rearing years, health care and retirement are uncertain, we are frequently victims of extreme weather, the food supply is unhealthy, and the educational system is a farce. Who in her right mind would CHOOSE to get pregnant under those conditions?

[Mother77]

05:55 PM on 06/17/2011

I cannot believe I am saying this but I agree with you. That was honest and raw.

[catlady1954]

03:32 AM on 06/18/2011

I get that things are bad right now, but REALLY? What country would be a good one to have a baby in, pray tell?

[layla1]

10:07 AM on 06/18/2011

France or Sweden to name two.

[Kenz300]

09:47 AM on 06/17/2011

The question should be are you financially and emotionally ready to have a child? Can you provide the love and emotional support that child needs? Children should not be having children.

[kelsye2000]

12:31 AM on 06/17/2011

not long till this changes with the defunding of planned parenthood in some states.

[cyril10]

09:56 AM on 06/17/2011

And for those who can least afford to have unwanted children.

[wzjussayin]

11:40 PM on 06/16/2011

So are the installations of granite counter tops. Coincidence?

[Craig Meyer]

05:46 PM on 06/16/2011

it's about time, there are adverse effects to a stabilized population but we are out of food and resources now. Over half the people in the world, about 3 billion go to bed hungry every night. Mother Earth can only sustain so many.

[edtastic]

10:54 AM on 06/17/2011

America can sustain a lot more people. You are guilty of an over generalization. Over population can exist in one place while not existing in another. We have vast expanses of empty space with only a few large cities. America can feed itself and the rest of the world.

To my knowledge most destruction comes from over fishing, and rain forest destruction in developing countries to make charcoal, palm oil, and inefficient agriculture. We could eliminate these this destruction and do just fine as a species. Yes we need to change our habits but we don't have to stop reproducing at least at replacement levels.

[RocheTm]

12:27 AM on 06/18/2011

Our large cities are not really and packed as they could be which would save space and resources.

Also there is A LOT of food that is wasted on none food things because we don't give it to poor countries. We could but that would destroy their economy, hungry with some economy is better than fed and no future.

Anyone that does not think food is wasted in the US and other developed countries needs to take a trip to the super market. How much of the food there is junk food? Candy, pie, cake, icecream, etc. All of that bad food is packed full of what was good food(corn) processed into sugar.

[CPNASH]

05:33 PM on 06/16/2011

Why would this be any surprise? Few can afford, homes, rent, healthcare, food, gas, electricity, bills, taxes, errrr children...etc, etc

[singermuse]

05:31 PM on 06/16/2011

Oh! What to do! What to do! Without an increase in births, or more leniency in immigration we won't have any cheap labor or military "poverty conscripts" in the future. Dya think this might tie in with the right wing law makers trying to curtail women's access to contraception and reproductive services like Planned Parenthood? Not to mention all that Abstinence Only UN-education being taught in the heartland? And it's still not working! Women are still fighting hard to make their own choices!

[PukkaDemocrat]

03:09 PM on 06/16/2011

You see? This is EXACTLY why we need to eliminate all immigration restrictions.

The USA is the most immigrant unfriendly country IN THE WORLD. We need to open the borders, open them wide, and stop harassing people just because they don't have their papers in order. "Show me your papers" -- sounds so much like the you-know-what.”

[Kristin Talbott]

04:51 PM on 06/16/2011

Smashing idea, really. Let's flood our country with new workers so that wages can be depressed even further. Let's add millions upon millions of new residents to our cities; it's not like they're crowded or anything now. Let's add exponentially more pollution and more waste to the legacy we leave the next generation, whilst at the same time leaving them fewer natural resources.

A declining birth rate is a GOOD thing. It's exactly what should happen at times like these, when resources become scarce. Bringing in more people and encouraging them to breed is pretty much the worst possible response, unless your goal is more along the lines of triggering collapse. Then overloading the system to the point it could not possibly hold up to the demand would make perfect sense.

[Anna Burr]

02:15 PM on 06/16/2011

This downward trend will reverse as people lose access to affordable birth control. Who needs Planned Parenthood, anyway?

[Linda Buzzell]

01:51 PM on 06/16/2011

There's another factor to consider as well: many young people are so concerned about what the future holds, what with environmental, energy and economic trends going the wrong way - that they're deciding against bringing children into this messed up world. In case anyone's interested, I just wrote a new blog on this, "You Trashed My World and Stole My Life," here on The Huffington Post.

[Duzula]

04:51 PM on 06/16/2011

I myself wouldn't bring a child into this world, I wouldn't be available to shape them into what I thought was right because I'm having trouble shaping myself in a world that tries to standardize thinking. It just doesn't make sense to me, I see the building a family thing and values and all that, but we're blindly consuming the Earth, that's just one more body moving about our planet and killing it if they continue what we have been doing. I feel one of the best things I can do for the Earth is to NOT have children, but that's just how I feel.

[Kenz300]

11:33 AM on 06/16/2011

Bringing a child into the world requires the ability to provide for them both financially and emotionally. Too many children are born to children before they are ready for the responsibility.
I hope this drop in births means that babies that are born come into financially stable and loving homes.

[fancyscrubs]

06:13 AM on 06/17/2011

Great point....Thought someone once said "If you wait until you can afford having a child, you never will".... Sometimes having the child makes you more responsible to afford it. But too many do not and that is the sad part.