Birth rates in the United States fell in 2008 – which isn’t really a surprise. Having a baby is an expensive proposition and, in a poor economy with an uncertain future, the idea of having a new dependent is even more daunting. However, there is one demographic for whom birth rates actually went up – women in their forties.
The U.S. birth rate fell 2% overall from 2007 to 2008, the first decline in births since 2000. It broke down like this: women in their early twenties had 3% fewer babies, women in their late twenties had 2% fewer babies and women in their thirties had 1% fewer babies. Women in their forties had 4% more babies than they’d had the year before.
It’s a clear trend, women are waiting longer to have children but, the older they are, the less willing they are to put off having children because of economic and personal concerns. But women in their forties still had far fewer children than younger women, about 10 in every 1,000 giving birth verses 115 in every 1,000 women in their late twenties giving birth.
Teen birth rates also fell in 2008 by 2% with rates for Latino teens hitting their lowest rate in two decades. This marks the end of a spike in teen pregnancies between 2005 and 2007.
Early information from the first six months of 2009 indicate a continuing decline in total births of about 3%, according to CDC officials. The 2009 early surveys make it clear that a significant portion of people in their childbearing prime, about 14%, are still putting off having children because of the recession.
