COVID baby bust: US birth rate dropped by 4% to record low in 2020 - the steepest decline since 1979, CDC data reveals
U.S. birth rates fell to a record low in 2020 amid the pandemic, dropping nearly four percent compared to the rate in 2019, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data reveal
Just 3.6 million babies were born in 2020, marking the sixth year in a row that birth rates have declined in the U.S. Last year saw the fewest births per woman in the U.S. since 1979.
Experts had hoped that the months couples spent locked up at home together could lead to a pandemic baby boom. But the new data confirm that last year was actually a Covid baby bust.
In fact, birth and fertility rates declined more steeply than they have in prior years. The number of babies born each year has been falling by about 0.25 percent to two percent since 2015. Between 2019 and 2020, that figure fell by nearly four percent.
And declining birth rates pose an ominous threat for America's future. Baby boomers are now aging into retirement, younger people are having less children, and the demographics shift could mean the U.S. won't have enough people to sustain its current economy in the decades to come.
Just 3.6 million babies were born in 2020, marking the sixth year in a row that birth rates have declined in the U.S. Last year saw the fewest births per woman in the U.S. since 1979.
The U.S. has been below the so-called 'rate of replacement' since about 2007.
In order to maintain the rate of replacement, enough babies need to be born each year to 'replace' the number of people who die in the same period, a figure of 2.1 births per American woman on average.
Last year, there were only about 1.6 babies born per woman of reproductive age (between 15 and 44) in the U.S. - a four percent decline from the year prior and the lowest rate since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
In total, there were only 55.8 babies born to every 1,000 mothers aged between 15 and 44, down from 58.3 in 2019 and 70.9 in 1990.
Birth rates have been declining steadily since 1990, but there had been optimistic forecasts the pandemic and lockdowns would actually lead to an increase in births.
Preliminary data from states raised suspicions the the opposite would be true, and the CDC's data, released Wednesday confirms it: 2020 was a pandemic baby bust.
Birth and fertility rates declined for every age group and race.
Women of every race had fewer babies in 2020 compared to 2019, with births declining between 2 and 8%
Teen birth rates continue to decline in 2020, dropping eight percent for all women aged 15 to 19 (blue)
Historically, Hispanic and black women have had more children than white and Asian American women, and seen slower declines in birth rates.
But in recent years, birth rates have been declining among these groups as well, and last year, the number of babies born to black women declined just as much as rate among white women: four percent.
Three percent fewer babies were born to Hispanic women, and births fell by a massive six percent among American Indian and Alaska Native women.
The steepest decline was seen among Asian women, who had eight percent fewer babies last year compared to 2019.
Declining teen birth rates are generally seen as a good thing for public health, as pregnant teenagers are at greater risk of complications during pregnancy and are more likely to face financial struggles that harm their own futures and those of their children.
In 2020, birth rates for girls under age 15 remained stable, and low.
Teen pregnancies continued to decline last year, with eight percent fewer babies born to women between ages 15 and 19 in 2020 compared to in 2019.
But women in their 20 and 30s had fewer babies too.
For women aged 20-24, births declined by six percent last year, to a record low for the age group.
Births declined by four percent for women ages 25-29 as well as those between 30 and 34, while the number of babies born to women between 35 and 44 declined by two percent.
The number (blue) and fertility rate (green) of births in the U.S. each fell by 4% in 2020
The U.S. birth rate dropped to a record low in 2020, falling to 55.8 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, from 58.3 in 2019 - one of the largest single-year decreases in nearly 50 years
The birth rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly every age group, falling to the lowest point since federal health officials started tracking it more than a century ago (file photo)
Births have been declining in younger women for years, as many have postponed motherhood and had smaller families.
The pandemic no doubt contributed to last year’s big decline, experts say. Anxiety about COVID-19 and its impact on the economy likely caused many couples to think that having a baby right then was a bad idea.
But, experts warn the pandemic is not the only reason for a falling birth rate and researchers are working on a follow-up report to explain how the decline unfolded.
Historically, birth rates tend to slip after global crises - for example, the Great Depression - before bouncing back.
Birth rates in the U.S. have continued to decline since the 2008 financial crash, long after the economy recovered.
Approximately 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, down four percent from the 3.75 million births in 2019, and the lowest total since 1979.
The U.S. once was among only a few developed countries with a fertility rate that ensured each generation had enough children to replace it.
But that rate has been sliding, and last year dropped to about 1.64, the lowest on record since the government began tracking it in the 1930s.
The U.S. briefly came close to the rate of replacement with 2.08 births per woman in 1990 and has by and large seen the number diminish since then.
Experts say the birth rate drop is no doubt linked to the pandemic. (pictured, Cots and cribs are arranged at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah, as an alternate care site or for hospital overflow amid the COVID-19 pandemic)
Scientists said the decline could have been because anxiety about COVID-19 and its impact on the economy likely caused many couples to think that having a baby right then was a bad idea (file photo)
Population health is a growing concern in the U.S.
Birth and fertility rates are falling, men's sperm counts have dropped precipitously, and all the while American life expectancy is now declining after generations of gains.
Life expectancy in the U.S. leveled off in 2010, then began dropping in 2014.
Each year since, public health experts watched nervously as months were chipped of life expectancy, a trend largely driven by rising rate of drug overdoses and and suicides.
But last year, a whole year was shaved off life by the pandemic, including not just COVID-19 deaths, but increases in deaths from heart attacks that went unattended during the pandemic and the ever upward march of overdoses.
It comes after statistics released last month by the EU statistical agency Eurostat found life expectancy had plunged across the continent since the onset of the pandemic last year.
Data from the organisation showed England, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, have each seen more than a year shaved off their average life expectancy.
The biggest drop was in Spain, with a loss of 1.6 years compared with 2019.
Bulgaria followed with a loss of 1.5 years, followed by Lithuania, Poland and Romania, which all saw a drop of 1.4 years.
In England, life expectancy dropped by 1.1 years compared to 2019. While the Netherlands, France, and Austria all saw a decline of 0.7 years.
Denmark and Finland were the only nations to see a rise in life expectancy, with an increase of 0.1 years.
Statistics released last month by the EU statistical agency Eurostat found life expectancy had plunged across the continent since the onset of the pandemic last year
But, though these figures were blamed on the pandemic, experts warned this was not necessarily the case.
One reason the Covid-19 pandemic has caused such a dramatic drop in life expectancy in Europe is because it is only a period indicator of mortality.
This means the reduced life expectancy statistics for 2020 would only apply for people if the mortality conditions observed during the pandemic remained until all babies born this year had died.
Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years that a newborn child would live if subjected to current mortality conditions.
The data is calculated based on the number of deaths at a specific age and therefore at what age the person is most likely to die.
One reason the Covid-19 pandemic has caused such a dramatic drop in life expectancy in Europe is because it is only a period indicator of mortality
Since the 1960s life expectancy has generally improved at a rate of more than two years every decade. But increases have slowed dramatically since 2010
No comments