2LT International News
U.S. birth rate down 4% in 2020 due to drop in economy
May 8, 2021
WASHINGTON DC – Amidst the radical turndown in the American economy during the Covid lockdown, birth rates in the United States fell 4 percent to the lowest level in more than 40 years.
At the current level — known as “below replacement” — there are more deaths than births in the United States.
Records show that the U.S. birth rate last year was about 56 births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, the lowest rate on record.
The U.S. birth rate marks the sixth consecutive year that the number of births has declined.
In 2020 there were 3.6 million births, which fell from the 3.75 million births in 2019, the data showed. Meanwhile, the 2019 figure was down from 3.79 million in 2018.
Notably, births declined for women in every race and ethnicity from 2019 to 2020, with a drop of 4 percent for White and Black women, 3 percent for Hispanic women, 8 percent for Asian Americans and 6 percent for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Birth rates among teens also fell to record lows, with births among 15- to 17-year-olds down by 6 percent and 18- to 19-year-olds dropping by 7 percent.
