U.S. birthrate plummets to its lowest level since 1920

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. birthrate plunged last year to a record low, with the decline being led by immigrant women hit hard by the recession, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

The overall birthrate decreased by 8 percent between 2007 and 2010, with a much bigger drop of 14 percent among foreign-born women. The overall birthrate is at its lowest since 1920, the earliest year with reliable records. The 2011 figures don’t have breakdowns for immigrants yet, but the preliminary findings indicate that they will follow the same trend.

The decline could have far-reaching implications for U.S. economic and social policy. A continuing decrease could challenge long-held assumptions that births to immigrants will help maintain the U.S. population and create the taxpaying workforce needed to support the aging baby-boom generation.

The U.S. birthrate — 63.2 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age — has fallen to a little more than half of its peak, which was in 1957. The rate among foreign-born women, who have tended to have bigger families, has also been declining in recent decades, although more slowly, according to the report.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-birth-rate-plummets-to-its-lowest-since-1920/2012/11/29/ee7e8d16-3a3f-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html

[Purveyor]

1. Thank the Lords... !

[lexw]

2. I don't know many couples having kids. Not surprised.

[freethought]

3. This shouldn't be a surprise

With an anemic economic recovery, couples (immigrant or otherwise) aren't having children. What I have observed among my cirlce of friends those who should not breed will, and those who I beleive would make great parents will not. Just an observation.

[AllyCat]

4. I work in a birthing center...this seems wrong in our part of the world.

We have been SO busy. Our averages have been far above previous years and lots of sick babies going to the NICU. Hope this comes to us soon...

[No Vested Interest]

5. Nothing new here-

The birthrate dropped dramatically during the Great Depression - 1930's.
And that was before the pill (1960's) and other technological advances to curb births.

I happen to believe a child is a great blessing in a family. Unfortunately the expectations of what a child needs in today's world leads many to believe they cannot afford a child. It is undeniable that there are many expenses connected with bearing and raising a family, but there are also many perceived, material needs that are not really necessary for children- clothes, toys, etc. Children do not really need their own bedroom and bath - sharing with a sibling is fine until well into the teen years, when they are near ready to leave home.
As long as children have loving parents and family, they are content.

[Lars39]

6. Food and medical care are very expensive and very necessary.

[bitchkitty]

7. Yah, you can always send the little snots to work, right?

McDonald's has free shift meals.

And of course, if they get sick and you don't have the insurance to take care of them, you can always take them to the emergency room.

Education? Who needs it? Maybe they can share an education with an older sibling....

[JDPriestly]

9. Child care is extremely expensive.

That's the problem. Pre-school care. Hiring someone to care for your baby while you work.

Working women cannot make enough to pay for the costs of a baby, of the health care, of the child care, transportation and everything else they need nowadays.

And then there is the dream of a home and a college education for your kids. Raising a child, I have heard a young mother say, is estimated to cost around a million dollars over a lifetime. I assume that part of the cost is in the loss that a couple experiences due to the fact that one parent will miss work and receive fewer promotions at work because of the demands of parenting like taking a baby to the doctor, etc.

Employers don't offer much support or understanding for young parents who need extra time off for their children.
It's partly the costs of a child and partly the fear of losing their jobs that makes young people hesitate to have another baby.

[Bozita]

8. The cost of raising a child ...

... is the likely determinative factor.

I predict that when wages rise, so will the birth rate.

[OnlinePoker]

10. Why would we want the birth rate to rise?

If anything, we want less people on earth, not more.

[Kolesar]

14. Presumably, because it "grows the economy" and new Americans will pay for "our" SS & Medicare

It's a very flawed presumption. However, countries like Japan will have an extreme problem paying for senior pensions since the population is decreasing.

[ffr]

11. Exactly. Many benefits. But this represents many problems also.

Want to save the World's oceans, whales, coral & fish species, tigers, rhinos, etc, etc, etc. Easy. Don't try to save them, simply reduce human populations back to something manageable, like 3 billion, instead of 7+ billion on our way to 12 before you know it.

Earth's ecosystems will repair themselves given time, but adding consuming humans isn't going to make things better.

The question is, can humans break the mindset that says a contracting economy is bad? And can we as a race, come to the global understanding that WE are the problem and every nation needs to reduce equally.

Eh, never happen.

[NickP]

12. Good!

We don't need anymore people at this point.

[Amonester]

13. Yep. Just more robots.

And more taxes on the profits they benefit their corporations.

[AlexSatan]

19. Except it hurts the long-term

outlook for Medicare and Social Security. For my generation and my kids.

Fewer young people paying in results in fewer workers paying in per recipient.

[Katashi_itto]

15. Bad news for Repukes. Means an eventual increase in Immigrants, and Immigritants dont vote for

Repukes on the average.

[Puzzledtraveller]

17. Soa low US birth rate equals in an increase in immigrants?

[Katashi_itto]

18. If we have a forward thinking immigration policy at some point

[area51]

16. I'm not surprised

given that this is a Depression economy.

[davidn3600]

20. We are not the problem with overpopulation

Vast majority of the population growth is in the 3rd world.

Several western nations have declining birth rates. The 3rd world is booming in births. Which is problematic.

[lunatica]

21. Well that's good for the planet

There are millions already starving. Zero population growth just means everyone already alive replaces themselves.

The population going down would be very good, especially if it was done deliberately through education and birth control. Let us Baby Boomers die off without replacing our numbers. Then the future humans might have a fighting chance at a decent life.