U.S. birth rate hits record low

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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 in April 2020. Associated Press/ Photo by Rick Bowmer

The number of births across the United States declined by four percent last year, the largest dip since 1979. The report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics gathered the data from more than 99 percent of birth certificates issued last year.

What are the key findings? The numbers dropped among every major ethnic group: Birth rates fell 4 percent for black and white women, 8 percent for Asian American women, and 3 percent for Hispanic women. The CDC said the birth figures leave the nation “below replacement levels,” which means more people are dying than being born. Brady Hamilton, the lead expert on the report, said anxiety about the pandemic contributed to the decline, yet many of the pregnancies began well before the virus hit the United States.

Dig deeper: Read Kiley Crossland’s report in Relations on the link between work obsession and low birth rates.

Onize Ohikere

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks