[This piece has appeared in variously edited versions, with various titles on RH Reality Check, Huffington Post, and Ms Blog] New CDC birth data out Wednesday confirm that the U.S. birthrate dropped one percent to reach an all-time low in
Common Myths about Having a Child Later in Life
Policy Talk Redux
Another on the Way!
US Fertility Rate Continues Decline (Revised)
f the full reports confirm the provisional data, the 2010 US fertility rate (64.7 births per thousand women in the 15-44 age band) will have fallen below the recent low of 64.8 hit in 2002 – when we were also in recession. The years 1995-1999, characterized by economic boom, also had fertility rates under 64.7 (64.6, 64.1, 63.6, 64.3, 64.4, respectively).
Delayer Boom!
Today’s Census headline tells us there’s a “delayer boom” underway, as more educated women have children later. This is not a surprise here! … They conclude that women with a college degree or more will end up with around 1.7 kids, as opposed to women with less than a high school degree, with 2.5 kids. But increasing numbers of the later moms are still having kids in the 35-44 range – and in increasing numbers every year (see story on the 2009 data below) — so the 1.7 is not great data. And of course none of this data includes adopted children. Stay tuned!