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Is a post-Covid baby boom on the horizon? US births rise 1% in 2021, reversing seven-year downward trend – with older mothers driving rise

The US birth rate has risen slightly during the Covid pandemic, new official figures show – reversing a worrying seven-year trend.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 3,664,292 babies were born in 2021, an increase of one percent from the 3,613,647 born in 2020.

The small increase was driven by an increase in the number of older mothers with children – with birth rates among women aged 30 to 45 rising significantly in recent years.

While the number of children born last year was still lower than in 2019, the year-on-year increase ended a downward trend that began in 2014.

The U.S. birth rate rose 1 percent in 2021 to 11 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44. This is the first increase since 2014, but still a significant decrease from the rate of 13 per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2010

Utah and North Dakota are the most fertile states in America, the only ones to record more than 13 births for every 1,000 older women who have given birth. The states with the lowest total fertility rates were concentrated in the Northeast region

Experts have warned that unless the trend is reversed, America’s declining fertility could lead to systems like Medicare and Social Security being overwhelmed.

Women in their 30s accounted for the increase in 2021. Births to women aged 30 to 34 rose by three percent, from 94.9 per 1,000 women in the age group in 2020 to 97.6 in 2021.

Among 35- to 39-year-olds, there was a five percent increase from 51.3 to 53.7 births per 1,000 women.

There was also an increase in women in their 40s – from 11.8 per 1,000 women in 2020 to 12 in 2021.

Experts point out that after stimulus checks and generous unemployment benefits, women have more cash on hand to start families during the pandemic.

Lockdowns and working from home have also allowed many expectant mothers to spend more time resting at home – and spending more time with children after the birth.

The increase in births in America has been fueled significantly by women age 30 and older choosing to have children.  The number of births increased by three percent among 30- to 34-year-old women and by five percent among women in the second half of the 1930s

The increase in births in America has been fueled significantly by women age 30 and older choosing to have children. The number of births increased by three percent among 30- to 34-year-old women and by five percent among women in the second half of the 1930s

Declining US fertility could lead to future economic devastation, experts warn (file photo)

Declining US fertility could lead to future economic devastation, experts warn (file photo)

When Covid first started, many believed that lockdowns, fear of the virus and other measures to keep people indoors would lead to more children being conceived.

Virus-related restrictions in the US began in March 2020. With an average of nine months between conception and delivery, the 2021 data reflects the impact of the pandemic on birth rates for the first time.

In a report released Tuesday, CDC researchers revealed the final number of births in the United States. Preliminary figures were published last summer.

America’s baby bust exposed: Only half of women under 45 have children

READ MORE: Experts point to changing family values ​​and cost of living

Researchers found that in the population there were 11 births for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.

This is a slight increase from 10.9 in 2020, but still significantly lower than the 11.4 births per 1,000 recorded in 2019.

Ten years earlier, in 2011, the US fertility rate was 12.7 per 1,000 women of childbearing age.

From 2014 to 2019, the birth rate in America fell by about 2 percent per year. Between 2019 and 2020 there was a sharp drop of four percent.

In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the US recorded 3,747,540 births.

The Northeast region of the US saw the largest increases in births, with New Hampshire (6 percent increase in birth rate) and Connecticut (5 percent) seeing the largest increases.

Overall, the fertility rate rose in 26 US states.

Hawaii saw the steepest year-over-year decline in fertility, with a four percent drop between 2020 and 2021. Fertility declined in a dozen states, but the CDC notes that these declines were not significant.

White and Hispanic women accounted for most of the increase across the country.

In 2021, white women will give birth to 1.89 million children, an increase of 2.3 percent from the previous year.

Hispanic women experienced a 2.1 percent increase to 885,916 births, compared to 866,713 a year earlier.

These upward trends are a welcome sight for US officials, who have long warned that America’s declining birthrate is jeopardizing the country’s future.

A CDC report earlier this month found that the average American woman gave birth to just 1.1 children in 2019 — up from 1.3 in 2002.

States in the Northeast, such as New Hampshire and Connecticut, saw the largest year-over-year fertility gains.  Hawaii experienced the sharpest decline

States in the Northeast, such as New Hampshire and Connecticut, saw the largest year-over-year fertility gains. Hawaii experienced the sharpest decline

The increase in the birth rate was driven by Hispanic and white women, who each saw more than two percent increases in total births between 2020 and 2021. However, among Asian and Black women in America, birth rates have declined significantly

Only 52 percent of women had children in the year before the pandemic, compared with nearly 60 percent at the turn of the century.

Experts told DailyMail.com this is due to the shift in priorities among younger people.

Dr Melissa Kearney, a professor of economics at the University of Maryland, told DailyMail.com: “There has been more emphasis on spending time building a career. Adults are changing their attitudes towards children.

“They choose to spend money and time in different ways… [that] come into conflict with parenting.’

She further said that in addition to career development, younger people are now more interested in leisure activities and travel than they were before.

‘[Wanting to travel] just clashes with education,” she said.

According to the US Census Bureau, the fertility rate – which measures how many children the average woman will give birth to in her lifetime – was 1.6 in 2020.

This is well below the 2.1 needed to maintain current population levels.

Many pointed to high child care costs, college debt for Americans in their early 20s and other financial issues.

DR Kearney warns that the government will have to gradually raise more taxes to keep these programs going – while giving fewer benefits to each recipient.

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