A dramatic decline in births among immigrant women hard hit by the recession is seen as the main cause of a record low in the U.S. birth rate.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center the overall birth rate across the country fell by 8 per cent between 2007 and 2010 and by 6 per cent among U.S.-born women.
The rate fell sharpest for those hardest hit by the recession - 14 per cent among all foreign-born women and including a 23 per cent drop for Mexican immigrant women.
The 2011 rate was the lowest since 1920, when such records began.
Fall: While still higher than the rate of births to U.S.-born women, the number of immigrants giving birth fell sharply
According to a study by the Pew Research Center the overall birth rate across the U.S. fell by 8 per cent between 2007 and 2010 and by 6 per cent among U.S.-born women
Foreign-born mothers continue to give birth to a disproportionate share of the nation's newborns.
Last year there were 3.95million total U.S. births, according to the preliminary data.
Last year there were 3.95million total U.S. births, according to the preliminary data.
The overall U.S. birth rate was 63.2 per 1,000 women of child-bearing age considerably lower than it's 1957 peka during the Baby Boom years when it reached 122.7 per 1,000 women.
According to D'Vera Cohn, an author of the report, the fall is not because there are fewer immigrant women capable of giving birth, but because of a change in their behavior. She said: 'the economic downturn seems to play a pretty large role in the drop in the fertility rate.'
Better access to contraception for Latino women may also be playing a part in the falling birth rate, according to the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.
The overall U.S. birth rate peaked most recently in the Baby Boom years, reaching 122.7 per 1,000 women of child-bearing age in 1957, nearly double today¿s rate of 63.2
The 23 per cent share of all births to foreign-born mothers in 2010 was higher than the 13 per cent immigrant share of the U.S. population, and higher than the 17 per cent share of women aged 15-44 who are immigrants.
The 2010 birth rate for foreign-born women (87.8) was nearly 50 per cent higher than the rate for U.S.-born women (58.9).
Total U.S. births in 2010 were 4million—roughly 3.1million to U.S.-born women and 930,000 to immigrant women. In 2011, according to preliminary data, there were 3.95million total births.
Population projections from the Pew Research Center indicate that immigrants will continue to play a large role in U.S. population growth.
The projections suggest that immigrants arriving since 2005 and their descendants will account for fully 82 per cent of U.S. population growth by 2050.
Even if the lower immigration influx of recent years continues, new immigrants and their descendants are still projected to account for most of the nation’s population increase by mid-century.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240934/U-S-birth-rate-falls-record-low-drop-foreign-born-women-having-children.html#ixzz2DiuMy3ol
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