Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
U.S. Births Continue Downward Spiral, Dropping To Lowest Rate In More Than 30 Years
The Associated Press: Fewer Babies As US Birth Rate Fails To Rebound With Economy
America's baby bust isn't over. The nation's birth rates last year reached record lows for women in their teens and 20s, a government report shows, leading to the fewest babies in 32 years. The provisional report, released Wednesday and based on more than 99% of U.S. birth records, found 3.788 million births last year. It was the fourth year the number of births has fallen, the lowest since 1986 and a surprise to some experts given the improving economy. (5/15)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Births Fall To Lowest Rates Since 1980s
About 3.79 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2018, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. That was a 2% decline from the previous year and marked the fourth year in a row that the number fell. The general fertility rate—the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44—fell to 59.0, the lowest since the start of federal record-keeping. With the latest decline, births in the U.S. have fallen in 10 of the last 11 years since peaking in 2007, just before the recession. Many demographers believed that births would rebound as the economy recovered, but that trend hasn’t materialized. (DeBarros and Adamy, 5/15)
Bloomberg: U.S. 2018 Births Fall To Lowest Level In 32 Years, CDC Data
The United States is confronted by its lowest number of births in 32 years, according to provisional data released by the National Center for Health Statistics. The total fertility rate (which represents the number of births per woman), is steadily decreasing, and remains under its replacement level of 2.1 per 1,000, where it has been since 2009. However, all states are not equal when it comes to the diversity of their new generation of toddlers. (Patino, 5/15)
