A New CDC report shows the post-pandemic baby boom was more of a blip than an explosion, KSBY.com reported. Data shows U.S. birthrates were flat from 2021 to 2022, but the report does reveal some trends.
Numbers revealed that women seem to be waiting later in life to have kids. For the past 16 years, the fertility rate in the U.S. has declined. It’s tracking below the replacement threshold, which is the number of births that a generation needs to replace itself.
The CDC posted information in a “Vital Statistics Rapid Release” in June of 2023. Here is some of what they reported:
This report presents provisional 2022 data on U.S. births. Births are shown by age and race and Hispanic origin of mother. Data on cesarean delivery and preterm births are also presented.
Data are based on 99.91% of all 2022 birth records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics as of February 14, 2023. Comparisons are made with final 2021 data and earlier years.
The provisional number of births for the United States in 2022 was 3,661,220, a nonsignificant decline from 2021. The general fertility rate was 56.1 births down 1,000 women aged 15-44, down less than 1% from 2021. The total fertility rate was 1,665.0 births per 1,000 women in 2022, essentially unchanged from 2021. Birth rates declined in age groups 15-24 and 30-34, rose for women in age groups 25-29 and 35-49, and were unchanged for females aged 10-14 years in 2022.
The birth rate for teenagers aged 15-19 declined by 3% in 2022 to 13.5 births per 1,000 females; rates declined for both younger aged (15-17) and older (aged 18-19) teenagers. The cesarean delivery rate rose to 32.3% in 2022, from 32.1% in 2021; the low-risk cesarean delivery rate was steady at 26.3% The preterm birth rate declined 1% in 2022 to 10.38%
The birth rate for teenagers aged 15-19 declined by 3% in 2022 to 13.5 births per 1,000 females; rates declined for both younger aged (15-17) and older (aged 18-19) teenagers. The cesarean delivery rate rose to 32.3% in 2022, from 32.1% in 2021; the low-risk cesarean delivery rate was steady at 26.3%. The preterm birth rate declined 1%. In 2022 to 10.38%.
KSBY.com explained that the birthrates for teens and young women hit record lows since peaking in 1991. Women ages 35 to 39 and 40 to 44 both saw increases from the previous year. That 35 to 44 age group, as a whole, is currently seeing the highest birthrate since the 1960s.
Also noteworthy, birth to Hispanic mothers fell 6% last year, while birth to white mothers fell 3% and birth to Black mothers fell one percent.
According to KSBY, 38 states and D.C. all experienced a drop last year. California, Michigan, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania had the largest declines. States seeing an increase were mostly in the South, with Texas adding almost 16,000 births and Florida adding some 8,000.
When you look at generations between 1946 and 1964 – if course, the Baby Boomers – the U.S. added an average of 4.2 million babies each year. Just by those numbers, things are a lot different now.
Dr. Monica Woll Rosen, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Michigan Medicine, where she specializes in adolescent gynecology, said, regarding teen birthrates hitting a record low – down 67% since 2007 – Dr. Rosen says we can attribute that to the increase in long-acting reversible contraception.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a statement a number of years ago, saying that long-acting reversible contraception should be used as a first-line for contraception in this age group,” Dr. Monica Woll Rosen said. “And so there’s certainly been an uptrend in this. And I think that that definitely is contributing to the decline in teen births.”
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