Is the birth rate falling in the US?
Yes
In 2020, the U.S. birth rate was 55.8 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, a decline of almost 20% from the rate of 69.3 per 1,000 in 2007. This decline has been driven by declining births among many demographic groups, rather than by changes in population composition. Births have fallen among women in their early 20s, late 20s, and teens, and among white women, Black women, and Hispanic women, with the largest declines among Hispanic women. Births have also fallen among women with and without college degrees and among both married and unmarried women. The population of U.S. women of childbearing age has actually shifted toward demographic groups that had tended to have higher birth rates, not lower birth rates. One difference over time, however, is the rising share of unmarried women of childbearing age.
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Sources:
EconoFact The Mystery of the Declining U.S. Birth Rate
Research Papers in Economics The Puzzle of Falling US Birth Rates Since the Great Recession
Centers for Disease Control Restricted-Use Vital Statistics Data
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