Recession Babies Wane as U.S. Births Decline for Second Year

The number of women giving birth in the U.S. declined for the second year in a row as more women delayed motherhood during the worst recession since the 1930s.

The number of births dropped 2.6 percent to 4.14 million in 2009, even as the U.S. population rose slightly, according to the annual report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The national birthrate declined to 13.5 for every 1,000 people, from 14.3 in 2007, when the collapse of subprime loans led to falling home prices and the loss of more than 8 million jobs.

Even before the most recent drop, births declined to a level below what’s considered necessary to replace the previous generation, according to the CDC. The agency said a smaller number of births in younger women was the reason for the decline in 2008. Women over the age of 40, who tend to be more financially secure and less able to delay the opportunity of motherhood, continued to have more babies.

“There is quite possibly a connection between the decline in births and the economic downturn in the last couple of years,” the CDC said in a statement. “The recession appears to have started in late 2007, and declines in births in 2008 and 2009 would be consistent with that.”

Detailed data on mothers’ ages in 2009 won’t be available until next year and will give a greater indication of the link between the recession and the declining births in America, according to the CDC.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.

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