Births rates have declined in several states, a trend experts link to the uncertain economic outlook and high unemployment rate, NPR’s “All Things Considered” reports.
Recent data indicate that Illinois’ birth rate is at its lowest level since the Great Depression, with similar trends appearing in California and Arizona. Mark Mather, associate vice president of domestic programs at the Population Reference Bureau, said that the economic recession “has affected just about everybody” and that there is “a lot of uncertainty about the future.” According to Mather, the U.S. birth rate has been “fairly steady” at around two to 2.1 births per woman, “but some of the state-level data suggest that in the coming years, we could see a drop.”
The decline in birth rates started in 2008, Mather said. Most people were not feeling the full effects of the recession at the time those children were conceived, “but we were starting to see big drops in housing prices, maybe the stock market was starting to drop,” he added.
It is “a little bit early to say” whether the decline in birth rates will be a national trend or stay isolated in certain states, Mather continued, noting the nine-month lag between when people make childbearing decisions and when births occur. He added that when put “in a broader context, [there are] a lot of other demographic, economic factors at work here that might lead to smaller cohorts of youth.” These factors include an aging population and a growing number of women delaying childbearing because of their careers, according to Mather (Siegel, “All Things Considered,” NPR, 8/25).
National Partnership for Women & Families