U.S. Birth Rate Reaches Record Low [why have the women given up?]

HHS | June 2003 | Centers for Disease Control

[ex-snook]

U.S. Birth Rate Reaches Record Low
Births to Teens Continue 12-Year Decline; Cesarean Deliveries Reach All-Time High

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 25, 2003

The U.S. birth rate fell to the lowest level since national data have been available, reports the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) birth statistics released today by HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.  Secretary Thompson also noted that the rate of teen births fell to a new record low, continuing a decline that began in 1991.

The birth rate was 13.9 per 1,000 persons in 2002, a decline of 1 percent from the rate of 14.1 per 1,000 in 2001 and down 17 percent from the recent peak in 1990 (16.7 per 1,000), according to a new CDC report, “Births: Preliminary Data for 2002.”  The current low birth rate primarily reflects the smaller proportion of women of childbearing age in the U.S. population, as baby boomers age and Americans are living longer.

There has also been a recent downturn in the birth rate for women in the peak childbearing ages.  Birth rates for women in their 20s and early 30s were generally down while births to older mothers (35-44) were still on the rise.  Rates were stable for women over 45.

Birth rates among teenagers were down in 2002, continuing a decline that began in 1991. The birth rate fell to 43 births per 1,000 females 15-19 years of age in 2002, a 5-percent decline from 2001 and a 28-percent decline from 1990. The decline in the birth rate for younger teens, 15-17 years of age, is even more substantial, dropping 38 percent from 1990 to 2002 compared with a drop of 18 percent for teens 18-19 years.

“The reduction in teen pregnancy has clearly been one of the most important public health success stories of the past decade,” Secretary Thompson said. “The fact that this decline in teen births is continuing represents a significant accomplishment.”

More than one fourth of all children born in 2002 were delivered by cesarean; the total cesarean delivery rate of 26.1 percent was the highest level ever reported in the United States. The number of cesarean births to women with no previous cesarean birth jumped 7 percent and the rate of vaginal births after previous cesarean delivery dropped 23 percent.  The cesarean delivery rate declined during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s but has been on the rise since 1996.

Among other significant findings:

In 2002, there were 4,019,280 births in the United States, down slightly from 2001 (4,025,933).

The percent of low birthweight babies (infants born weighing less than 2,500 grams) increased to 7.8 percent, up from 7.7 percent in 2001 and the highest level in more than 30 years.  In addition, the percent of preterm births (infants born at less than 37 weeks of gestation) increased slightly over 2001, from 11.9 percent to 12 percent.

More than one-third of all births were to unmarried women.  The birth rate for unmarried women was down slightly in 2002 to 43.6 per 1,000 unmarried women, reflecting the growing number of unmarried women in the population

Access to prenatal care continued a slow and steady increase.  In 2002, 83.8 percent of women began receiving prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy, up from 83.4 percent in 2001 and 75.8 percent in 1990.

Data on births are based on information reported on birth certificates filed in State vital statistics offices and reported to CDC through the National Vital Statistics System.  The report is available on CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Web site.

[longtermmemmory]

This is because women have been foolish to accept a "lifestyle" in place of a life. Men have been foolish for the same reasons. ( easy access to recreational sex helped too.)

Motherhood is ridiculed and demeaned. Its a difficult social choice to have a traditional marriage. Men are demeaned for being suckers. (lawyers warn them of women who don't work are alimony risks) Fatherhood is already marginalized. (filling our jails beyond capacity with the children of absent fathers)

I like the phrase parasite singles.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Love that baby.

You may be the only chance he or she has.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Lower births means lower replacement levels in the work force.

Baby boomers retiring, the largest number of retirees in history, living longer.

Lower worker to retiree ratio, less money going into the coffers to fund Social Security payments for retiring baby boomers.

And we wonder why all the immigrants?

[glory]

After working so hard, you want a nice lifestyle, instead of just more responsibilities>>

This is part of the problem though. Seeing children as a burden rather than a blessing. Waving a magic low tax wand is not going to make someone a passionate mother who cares about her children(or having children) more than her stash of goodies. This is about an attitude adjustment that has nothing to do with taxes. It will take viewing a "nice lifestyle" as something completely different than what you are implying. It's an attitude that sees eternal(and earthly long term) rewards as greater than immediate material ones.

[honeygrl]

"That's good news because we are out of room."

There is a lot of empty space in TN and AL. People just make it look like we are out of room due to overcrowded cities. I wish we could live out in the country and have a farm. One day maybe, but can't do it yet. For now we are stuck in a liberal college town.

[honeygrl]

"If these women can't afford babies, or aren't married, they shouldn't be having sex, period."

I wouldn't go so far as to say they shouldn't have sex at all, but they could ATLEAST use condoms or the pill or something.

[honeygrl]

"In my opinion, any family that has difficulty making ends meet on one income has no obligation to pay any taxes and should feel free to use whatever, uh, "creative" means of tax evasion at their disposal."

That sounds nice but I would be terrified of the breadwinner in the house being put in prison for it. Then where would we be?

[Age of Reason]

Technology has obviated the issue of crowding for a *very* long time now.

So I can stop sorting my garbage and washing empty soup cans and putting them in recycling bags?

[honeygrl]

"On the behavior of 90% of those who practice birth control:

"[It is derived] from viciousness, coldness, shallow-heartedness, self-indulgence, or mere failure to appreciate aright the difference between the all-important and the unimportant."

Or maybe it's derived by the fact that some of us just *can't* afford another child? You know if I got a job, we probably could, but I'd rather have only 2 children that I can stay home with than have 4 children that have to be in daycare so I can work to help get food on the table. So which do you think is better? Stay at home and stop at 2 kids or get a job just to produce 2 more kids which would mean all 4 would have to be raised by strangers?

[MinorityRepublican]

Lower worker to retiree ratio, less money going into the coffers to fund Social Security payments for retiring baby boomers.

Nothing lasts forever. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme that will ultimately fail.

[Age of Reason]

There is a lot of empty space in TN and AL. People just make it look like we are out of room due to overcrowded cities. I wish we could live out in the country and have a farm. One day maybe, but can't do it yet. For now we are stuck in a liberal college town.

Which is why we have to use water conserving toilets or else the toilet police will get us?

[honeygrl]

"IMHO, guys who would marry just to get the milk (if it wasn't already available) wouldn't be guys I'd marry anyway. If all he wants from me is milk he can go find a different herd ::grin::. "

Sometimes I wonder about my hubby in that regard.. sometimes I have to fight him off so the baby can have her meal.. /TMI *snicker*

[honeygrl]

"Hey we're doing our part too. Married three years and have two kids already. I have my one month old on my lap right now, as a matter of fact! And the 14 month old is playing quietly across the room. "

We've been married 6 yrs and have a 2 1/2 yr old and an 8 1/2mth old. It took us 3 years and 3 miscarraiges to get the first. It took one "oops" to get the second LOL We had intended to wait until our son was a bit older before adding a sibling but I do think them being so close in age might be an advantage eventually if we can teach them to get along well before they start school since they'll go to school together most of their school years. I'll have to get advice from my mother in law on that part since she had 3 boys, 2 years apart each. My brother is 5 1/2 yrs younger than me and it would've been disaster for us to go to school together. We would've beaten the crap out of each other.

[glory]

Agreed on all counts!

Home for 5 years now, blessed with two, and waiting to be blessed with more(I'm 33 Lord, move it along please!!LOL!)
Hubby of 7 years and I make due(and we thought we never could until the Lord taught us a lesson by my job loss;-)As a recent post of mine can attess, things get difficult, but sometimes the attitude adjustment is all mine! I started homeschooling recently and after years of wanting to do it and thinking though what a burden it would be, the scales fell from my eyes, just days ago in fact and I realized how incredibly blessed I am to be homeschooling. It is not a burden, it is just a long line of blessings God has bestowed on me. what a great privilege to marry, then have children, then stay home while they were young, and now to homeschool them to serve God.

Oh and for those thinking this is a charmed life--I came from a family of divorce where my father was super critical and my mother was a self-centered doormat for him. They still have LOTS of problems and the maternal half lives with us and is even more shallow then ever(I love her though, don't get me wrong, I just wish she'd accept Christ back in her life and let Him change her!) I had a lot to overcome and still struggle with insecurities because of it. It too made me defensive and protective of myself and self-centered. I realized feeding into that bitterness though in my teens and 20's brought me nothing but guilt and misery. When I allow it to poison my marriage it does not bring me anything but grief and pain for my husband. Since I've not let this come between me and the life God intended for me, my life has been richly blessed over and over and over again. Sometimes it takes an account of our life and what we perceive as "burdens" to understand just how blessed we really are. I'm really starting to see how things that I once thought were burdens and added responsibility really are an incredible gift and oppurtunity.

[Age of Reason]

You are worried about overcrowding? These other people are worried that we might not be a mostly white country? I say: Leave. I want to be a citizen of the greatest country in the world; if you think we're better off spending money to encourage every American to have babies or if you think we should reduce our population growth...move to France or China.

You really drank the kool aid, didn't you?

I don't have to move to France or China or anyplace else--because its coming here.

Enjoy your paradise.

And thanks for commanding me to leave.

That's just the kind of attitude crowding breeds.

[Age of Reason]

I'll take Einstein -- an excellent example of why accepting immigrants instead of indiscriminately pumping out babies is the root of what makes our country the strongest in the world.

Then take him in Germany, because that's where he did anything that was worth the paper he wrote it on.

He accomplished nothing extraordinary while in the U.S. except to generate publicity through the use of his name.

[honeygrl]

"I hear that. I ain't ready to be anybody's daddy. Uncle I can do, but not Daddy."

Most men are capable of rising to the occation if they actually want to. Being in the room and hearing their first cry and holding them the first time while they grab your finger with their little bitty hand makes you fall instantly in love. But if you have no desire to be a daddy then without a doubt, wait. I promise you it is one of the most rewarding experiences of life (according to my hubby anyway who waited until he was 31 to start trying to have kids. Lucky for him though I was only 19 at the time and will still have the energy to pick up the slack when he doesn't have it anymore. His health isn't great now that he's 37 so I imagine when the kids are in their teens I'll be picking up a lot of slack. But that's OK. I knew that going into it all.

[Age of Reason]

Maybe *you* should move to Montana.

That's the second time in the same post you told me where to live.

Basically, "If you don't like diveristy and crowding, get out!"--another example of the kind of intolerance that crowding breeds.

Multiply you by millions upon millions, and the people who can still see straight will know what will happen when people who think like you--who favor crowding, diversity, and flooding the country with immigrants--form the majority.

[glory]

And who you spent 4th of July with is our concern why?

Who cares? I spent mine with my husband and two beautiful children who have generations of heritage in this country and yes, it was quite traditional and no, we did not wonder what Woo Way down the street was doing.

I agree with another person, drop the "r" word. I would like to see more patriotic AMERICANS breeding is all. More of those "intelligent" females who are delaying passing on responsible ways to children while the irresponsible breed with abandon. What is racist about that? You are reading what you want to see than what is really there. I think most folks just mourn the fact that it's not esteemed anymore to have a large family, possibly to our culture's ruin.

BTW, I bet you don't see anything hypocritical about calling Americans racist for wishing to maintain their culture and heritage while you are patting yourself on the back for being so tolerant of your friends maintaining their cultural identity by dining on foods familiar and comfortable to them right? Did you consider your Russian friends racists for maintaining their cultural identity by eating ethnic foods? Would you consider them racist if they expressed disappointment that Russians were not having more children to maintain their culture? No, probably like most leftists your indignation is only when Americans, scratch that Americans of European decent, wish to maintain their AMERICAN identity. If it is another culture wishing to maintain and proliferate their identity, then you use your buzzwords diversity and tolerance. Well look here buddy, my family and all it's members have as much of right to want to continue our lines, culture, etc as your Russian buddies, especially in our own country. Doing so does not make us anymore racist than your Russian friends are for wanting to proliferate their culture and identity, whether by birth or sharing their culture with friends like you.

[Age of Reason]

you should move to Montana

maybe you should should be the one who moves to the woods.

If you really need "forest by the sea," move to Oregon.

move to France or China.

Let's see, that's four times in one post you're telling me to get out of the way to make room for your beloved immigrants.

Somehow I'm feeling less and less free already.

More proof that more people means less freedom.