Approximately half a million fewer babies will be born due to the Great Recession, according to a new study.
Princeton researchers Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt examined records for 140 million births in the U.S. between 1975 and 2010, and discovered that each percentage-point increase in the national unemployment rate meant 14 fewer births among a group of 1,000 women aged 20-24.
They predict that about 151,000 women who were in their early 20s in 2008 will refrain from having children by age 40, ultimately resulting in 427,000 fewer children being conceived.
Lower birth rate: Approximately half a million fewer babies will be born due to the Great Recession, according to a new study
While previous research has suggested that women are less likely to conceive during tough economic times, this new study shows that recessions can cause women to put the brakes on having children into their 40s.
Dr Currie, a health economist at Princeton, told the AP that the findings demonstrate 'a pretty profound effect on some women’s lives.'
She said that they were investigating whether women who defer conceiving during a recession later make up for it by having the number of children they would have had without the recession.
'We were just trying to measure how much catch-up there was,' she said, adding that they were surprised by the results.
Dr Currie told HealthDay that deferring childbirth in one's early 20s may lead to other life decisions that could interfere with starting a family.
'Perhaps the women will go on to have careers that they would not have had,' she said.
She also suggested that men who start their first job during a recession sometimes get locked into lower earnings for years to come, which may lead to trouble finding a mate
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2775682/More-money-babies-Why-birth-rate-plummets-America-goes-recession.html#ixzz3Ex5MMiBs
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