Report Finds U.S. Birth Rate Has Dropped to Lowest Level Since 1920

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/report-finds-u-birth-rate-dropped-lowest-level-155900057.html

By Vanessa Evans | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 1 hr 25 mins ago

The U.S. birth rate fell to its lowest levels ever last year, according to a preliminary report released by the Pew Research Center on Thursday.

Researchers said that the U.S.'s birth rate in 2011, which was estimated at 63.2 births per 1,000 women, "is the lowest since at least 1920, the earliest year for which there are reliable numbers."

Of particular note to researchers was the fact that the birth rate among foreign-born women and immigrant women appears to have fallen particularly sharply. Foreign-born women account for what the researchers referred to as a "disproportionate" number of U.S. births, and have done so for some time.

Here are some of the key numbers that emerged from the Pew Research Center's report on Thursday.

122.7: The recorded birth rate in 2011 is half that recorded in 1957, the peak year of the "Baby Boom."

8: The overall U.S. birth rate declined by 8 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to the center's report.

14: The birth rate among foreign-born women declined more dramatically during that same period of time than that of U.S.-born women, at 14 percent compared to 6 percent.

23: The birth rate among Mexican immigrant women revealed the sharpest decline, at 23 percent.

2.1: The average number of children that a U.S. woman would need to have in order to maintain current population levels, according to a report by the Washington Post. The current national average is 1.9 children per woman in the U.S.

9: As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced earlier this year, the teen birth rate fell 9 percent between 2009 and 2010, dropping to the lowest rate it has been in the last 70 years.

According to the Pew Research Center's report, however, U.S.-born teens still account for 11 percent of all U.S. births, while foreign-born U.S. teens account for an additional 5 percent of all U.S. births.

66: Among U.S.-born women, white women accounted for 66 percent of all births, while Hispanic women accounted for the majority of births among foreign-born U.S. women, at 56 percent.

4.0: Some 4 million babies were born to women in the U.S. in 2011, according to the Pew Research Center's numbers. 3.1 million were born to U.S.-born women, while an additional 930,000 were born to immigrant women.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[decocker 7,198]

good. looks like more people are using birth control effectively. awesome since we have an overpopulation problem.

[bsd058 296]

good. looks like more people are using birth control effectively. awesome since we have an overpopulation problem.

Canada is underpopulated and we have the same issue.

1.59 children born/woman

Edited November 30, 2012 by bsd058

[decocker 7,198]

Canada is underpopulated and we have the same issue.

1.59 children born/woman

i don't understand. what issue?

the planet, as a whole, is overpopulated. sustainability is key for all populations to thrive.

[bsd058 296]

i don't understand. what issue?

the planet, as a whole, is overpopulated. sustainability is key for all populations to thrive.

When I say issue, I mean it on a purely theoretical level. It's not an issue in the sense of it being a problem, necessarily. It's an issue in the sense of it being a topic discussed.

Though, it might become a problem if the whole planet were to keep a trend of 1.59 children per woman. Clearly the population would dwindle to nothing. For a time, it might thwart overpopulation problems. In the long run (if applying the micro to the macro) it's a bad thing.

Edited November 30, 2012 by bsd058

[decocker 7,198]

Though, it might become a problem if the whole planet were to keep a trend of 1.59 children per woman. Clearly the population would dwindle to nothing. For a time, it might thwart overpopulation problems. In the long run (if applying the micro to the macro) it's a bad thing.

the population of the planet would not dwindle to nothing if every woman had on average two kids. we would be more capable of improving the quality of life for the living and more focused on curtailing unnecessary loss of life.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Looking at some of the regional forums it looks like American men with foreign wives seem to be having a fair amount of children.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[bsd058 296]

the population of the planet would not dwindle to nothing if every woman had on average two kids. we would be more capable of improving the quality of life for the living and more focused on curtailing unnecessary loss of life.

It certainly would. We're not that advanced. We could imrpove the quality of life we have right now, but we need a greater growth than that.

There are things called accidents and new illnesses are contracted everday. I'm just being a realist.

It's a statistical certainty if it were under 2.

Edited November 30, 2012 by bsd058

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

One solution to increase birth rates in the US is for more American males to start importing more of these young foreign wives from over seas seeing how a lot of these younger foreign gals tend to be good healthy fertile breeders. It would give the US birth rate a needed boost.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Why do we want to increase birth rates?

[SMOKE 1,426]

Why do we want to increase birth rates?

we need people paying taxes to fund our retirement.

[bsd058 296]

Why do we want to increase birth rates?

I just don't want a dwindling population. A nice stable population would be fine with me. You can't control something like that, since it's a personal choice in families, though. Not that I would want to, anyways.

Edited November 30, 2012 by bsd058

[Penny Lane 8,159]

we need people paying taxes to fund our retirement.

Ok.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I wouldn't mind a little more elbow room.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I wouldn't mind a little more elbow room.

Same here but it's all about economic growth these days or so were told. Not hardly enough decent paying jobs to go around atm yet the Dream Act is pushed hard and heavy by the current president. Go figure.