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US birth rate hits new low, down 17 percent since 2007 according to CDC data; find out why
According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the annual birth rate in the U.S. has fallen by 17 percent since peaking in 2007. The report found that the general fertility rate has also dropped by 21 percent during that time period. According to experts, a declining economy and fears of a stagnant future are some of the reasons Americans are holding off on having children.
Experts say declining fertility rates reflect current social and economic issues
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the annual birth rate in the U.S. has fallen sharply — dropping by 17 percent since peaking in 2007. The latest government data also show that the birth rate fell by at least two percent last year compared to 2022, a decades-long decline.
The general fertility rate has also fallen by 21 percent over this period, while births among girls aged 15 to 19, part of this trend, will drop by 4 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to the recently released report, which will reduce births by 3.596,017 in the United States last year, compared to 3.667,758 in the year before.
Fewer pregnant women received adequate care in 2023 than in 2022, according to other CDC birth data.
Fewer women are getting prenatal care
The report primarily highlights a 1 percent decrease in the number of women who received prenatal care during their first trimester, and a 5 percent increase in the percentage of women who received no prenatal care at all — a trend that is expected to continue from 2021 to 2022.
“The levels of delayed treatment and non-return of care have increased steadily since 2016,” the team said in the report.
Why is the birth rate falling in America?
Experts say the decline in fertility rates reflects ongoing social and economic issues. “For the first time in our country’s history, 30-year-old men or women are not doing as well as their parents. This social contract is breaking down,” Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said in an interview with Fortune in May this year.
In addition, Galloway said the younger generation is facing skyrocketing mortgage rates, rising home prices and inflation — making their need and desire to stay afloat until they become stable in terms of money and career.
Experts believe women across the country are “facing growing concerns about access to reproductive health care and political debates over access to abortion rights, as well as worries about the economy, lack of rights for working parents, and growing fears about the future of the planet.”
Besides, the US is not the only country facing population problems.The LancetBy the year 2100, the population of 198 out of 204 countries is likely to decline.
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