Prognosis
Nine Months After Lockdowns, U.S. Births Plummeted by 8%
- December numbers are early evidence of impact from Covid-19
- For 2020, the decline is largest since 1973, CDC data show
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Nine months after the declaration of a national emergency due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. births fell by 8% in a month.
The December drop marked an acceleration in declines in the second part of the year. For the full year, the number of babies born in the country fell 4% to about 3.6 million, the largest decline since 1973, according to a Wednesday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.