The U.S. birth rate in 2014 rose 1 percent from the previous year to a record of 63 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15-44, according to a report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.
This birth rate rise marks the first increase seen since the
recession hit in 2007, according to The Associated Press. It also commemorates the largest decrease in U.S. teen birth rates, which are down 9 percent to 24 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19. Teen moms gave birth to 249,000 babies last year, which is less than half the number of the highest rate of teenage births at 645,000 in 1970.
Many demographers attributed the decreasing birth rate over the past eight years to the recession itself, claiming that this new increase, though modest, heralds a shift in the improving economy.
“I think as people feel their paycheck is more stable, it feels like a safe environment to have a child in,” said Laura Lindberg, a principal research assistant at the
Guttmacher Institute, according to USA Today.
The CDC study also found that the age at which women are giving birth to their children is rising, as well. Women in their 20s experienced a 2-percent drop in birth rates at 79 per 1,000 women — a record low, according to the AP — whereas women in their 30s and 40s experienced a 3- and 4-percent increase, respectively.
Another statistic in the report showed that births among unmarried women fell 1 percent, as well, which marked a drop in children born out of wedlock for the sixth year in a row. Those children accounted for approximately 40 percent of the overall births last year.
Although many experts blamed the recession for the decreasing birth rate in the U.S., other experts are more cautious in their outlooks.
“I've learned not to prognosticate,” said Brady Hamilton of the CDC, according to the AP.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.