National Birth Rate Drops in US

The continuing recession is not only having an adverse effect on the economic life in the US but also on the social life after stats showed that the national birth rate dropped for a second successive year. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the total number of new born babies in the country fell by 2.6 percent with just 13.5 babies being born for even 1,000 people in 2009, less than half of 30 babies per 1,000 people a 100 years ago.

Experts believe that recession is the major cause for the fall in numbers with parents afraid of having more children in such a difficult economic climate. Recessions of 1981-82, 1990-91 and 2001 all saw a dip in numbers with the number having fallen below 20 during the Great Depression in 1932.

However Andrew Cherlin at Johns Hopkins University said that there was no need to be worried since the birth rate in US was higher than most of the wealthy countries. “The birth rate is still higher than the birth rate in many wealthy countries and we also have many immigrants entering the country. So we do not need to be worried yet about a birth dearth”, he said.

Source-Medindia