Drop in Birth Rate in 2008 May Be Tied to Recession

ATLANTA (AP) — American births fell in 2008, updated government figures confirm, probably because of the recession. The one exception was the birth rate among women in their 40s, who perhaps felt that they did not have the luxury of waiting for better economic times.

The birth rate for women in their early 40s rose 4 percent over the previous year, reaching its highest mark since 1967. The rate for women in their late 40s also rose, slightly. But birth rates fell for teenagers, as well as women in their 20s and 30s.

“Women are postponing births to those later ages, above 40,” said James Trussell, director of the Office of Population Research at Princeton.

Experts do not know for certain why so many are delaying having children, though some suspect that the economy is a big factor. However, “you get to the point where the biological clock starts ticking and people realize they have to do it,” said Mr. Trussell, who was not involved in the research.

The report on births was issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is based on a review of more than 99 percent of birth certificates for 2008 — the first full year of the recession. Over all, about 4.2 million children were born that year, a 2 percent drop from 2007. It is the first annual decline in births since the start of the decade.

Experts say the most likely explanations are the recession and a decline in immigration to the United States, for which the weak job market has been blamed.

Some early information for the first six months of 2009 indicates a continuing decline of about 3 percent in total births, officials with the disease control centers said.

The report found that birth rates fell by 3 percent for women in their early 20s, 2 percent for women in their late 20s and 1 percent for women in their 30s.

The teenage birth rate dropped 2 percent — and the rate for Hispanic teenagers was the lowest in two decades. The teenage birth rate had been declining from 1991 through 2005, but rose from 2005 to 2007.

Women in their 40s still have children far less often than younger women. The rate was about 10 births per 1,000 women in their early 40s, and less then 1 per 1,000 for women in their late 40s. The rate for women in their late 20s was 115 per 1,000. The birth rate for teenagers was about 41 per 1,000.

The Pew Research Center also issued a report Tuesday that found that several states with the biggest declines in birth rates — Arizona, California and Florida — were among those that fared the worst by various economic measures.

The organization also pointed to a 2009 survey that found that 14 percent of people in their prime child-bearing years said they had put off having a child because of the recession.

The report by the disease control centers also showed that the percentage of babies born prematurely fell a bit, to 12.3 percent from 12.7 percent, an improvement celebrated by some health advocates.