Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Record Low US Birth Rate Is Ticking 'Time Bomb'
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
July 16, 2018

Share

Perhaps you’ve heard that Americans aren’t having as many babies as they did in the past.
In fact, the U.S. birth rate dropped to an all-time low in 2017. American women gave birth to 3.85 million infants in 2017, a 2 percent dip from 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
At 60 births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, this marks the lowest birth rate in U.S. history.
Are there reasons for concern?
Yes, the fact that American women are having fewer than two children each (the average was 1.76 in 2017) doesn’t bode well for the economy.

New York Times Survey

Writes Hilary Brueck, science reporter for Business Insider:  “Rich countries like the U.S. and Japan are struggling to make enough babies. As sizeable populations of older adults retire and age out of the workforce, younger people are having fewer kids. It’s setting up a ticking demographic time bomb, readying to explode when there aren’t enough young people to care and pay for what the older generation needs.”
So, are today’s young adults focused on themselves and simply don’t want the hassle of raising children?
No.
Most of the concerns are economic, according to a recent survey of young adults conducted by Morning Consult for The New York Times.
“Because the fertility rate subtly shapes many major issues of the day — including immigration, education, housing, the labor supply, the social safety net and support for working families — there’s a lot of concern about why today’s young adults aren’t having as many children. So we asked them,” writes Times correspondent Claire Cain Miller in a July 5 article.

Why Not More Kids? They Cost a Lot of Money

The No. 1 reason cited in the Times survey for not having children was the high cost of childcare (64%). Slightly more than half answered wanting “more time for the children I have” and 49% said they were worried about the economy. More than one in three cited “no paid family leave” and “worried about global instability.”
However, 42 percent did check off “want more leisure time” and 36 percent responded that they struggle to balance work with life outside their jobs.
Miller points to policies used by other nations as a way to reverse declining birth rates.

“Researchers say the United States could adopt policies that make it easier for people to both raise children and build careers. Government spending on child care for young children has the strongest effect. Policies that encourage parents to share childcare help, too. Germany and Japan have used such ideas to reverse declining fertility.”

You can read Miller’s Americans Are Having Fewer Babies. They Told Us Why. at this link.

You can read Brueck’s Japan is defusing its demographic time bomb, but the US is building one of its own at this link.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

It’s Final. No Live Horse Racing at Big Fresno Fair in 2025

DON'T MISS

Clover Is Eager to Bring You Good Luck and Great Joy

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Seek Help Identifying 7-Eleven Robbery Suspects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Scraps Cannabis Advisory Group, Extends Advance Peace Funding

DON'T MISS

Buss Family to Sell Lakers at $10 Billion Valuation, ESPN Says

DON'T MISS

Massive Security Breach: 16 Billion Passwords Leaked From Apple, Google, Facebook Accounts

DON'T MISS

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which US Citizenship Is Questioned

DON'T MISS

Florida Congresswoman to Revive Bipartisan Immigration Bill. Valley Leaders Join the Push

DON'T MISS

LA Dodgers Say They Denied ICE Agents Access to Stadium Parking Lot

DON'T MISS

Netanyahu Says Fall of Iran’s Leadership Not a Goal but Could Be a Result

UP NEXT

Hunger Strike Begins as California Prisons Hand Down Biggest Restrictions Since COVID

UP NEXT

Bay Area Transit Systems Want More Money. But Their Payrolls Soared as Ridership Declined

UP NEXT

Oil Prices Jump as Israel-Iran Conflict Enters Seventh Day

UP NEXT

EU Increasingly Resigned to 10% Baseline Tariff in US Trade Talks, European Sources Say

UP NEXT

Fed Keeps Rates Steady but Pencils in Two Cuts by End of 2025, Warns of Inflation Ahead

UP NEXT

Mass Deportations Could Cost California Over $275 Billion, UC Merced Report Warns

UP NEXT

Musk Shares Negative Drug Test Results, Challenges Media Outlets

UP NEXT

Hurricane Erick Threatens Mexico’s Pacific Coast, Rapid Strengthening Expected

UP NEXT

US Labor Market Softening; Single-Family Building Permits Slump

UP NEXT

Wall Street Indexes Edge Higher Ahead of Fed’s Interest Rate Verdict

Marijuana’s Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer

49 minutes ago

‘Little Lobbyists’ Urge Senators to Oppose Trump’s Bill Cutting Medicaid

54 minutes ago

Visalia Stabbing Sends Man to Hospital, Police Investigating

1 hour ago

Wall Street Perks Up, Oil Dips After Trump’s Middle East Delay

1 hour ago

Police, DA Refuse to Release Records on Latina Senator’s DUI Arrest Near Capitol

1 hour ago

US Supreme Court Upholds Law on Suing Palestinian Authorities Over Attacks

2 hours ago

Pro-Palestinian Activists Damage Planes at UK Military Base

2 hours ago

Israeli Scientists Scramble to Save Work After Iranian Missile Hits Labs

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Versall Johnson Henderson

2 hours ago

Suspected DUI Driver Crashes Into Yard Then Falls Asleep on Patrol Car

2 hours ago

Iran Says No Nuclear Talks Under Fire, UN Atomic Watchdog Urges Maximum Restraint

DUBAI/JERUSALEM – Iran said on Friday it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel, as Europe...

4 minutes ago

4 minutes ago

Iran Says No Nuclear Talks Under Fire, UN Atomic Watchdog Urges Maximum Restraint

13 minutes ago

Fresno Area’s Newest College Grads Boast Nearly $24 Billion in Earning Power

45 minutes ago

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Get a 400% Pay Raise

49 minutes ago

Marijuana’s Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer

54 minutes ago

‘Little Lobbyists’ Urge Senators to Oppose Trump’s Bill Cutting Medicaid

1 hour ago

Visalia Stabbing Sends Man to Hospital, Police Investigating

1 hour ago

Wall Street Perks Up, Oil Dips After Trump’s Middle East Delay

1 hour ago

Police, DA Refuse to Release Records on Latina Senator’s DUI Arrest Near Capitol

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend