Americans aren't making enough babies to replace ourselves [View all]
Source: NBC News
Government researchers did not offer an explanation, but experts cited factors including changing economics and fewer teen pregnancies.
Jan. 10, 2019, 12:53 AM EST / Updated Jan. 10, 2019, 8:06 AM EST
By Linda Carroll and Shamard Charles, M.D.
Americans are having fewer and fewer babies, a new government report finds. In fact, we now aren’t making enough babies to replace ourselves.
For the population to reproduce itself at current numbers, the “total fertility rate” needs to be 2,100 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age over their lifetime, researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in their report, released early Thursday. But the latest data show a current rate of just 1,765.5 per 1,000, or 16 percent below the number needed to keep the population stable without additions through immigration.
The total fertility rate has been declining steadily for seven years, but the numbers for 2017 represent the biggest drop in recent history. The rate for 2016 was 1,820.5; for 2015, 1,843.5; and for 2014, 1,862.5.
The CDC offered no explanation for why the American fertility rate is dropping so precipitously.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/americans-aren-t-making-enough-babies-replace-ourselves-n956931
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