US births fell 2 percent in 2008 amid recession; end to baby boomlet

[steven johnson]

About half of pregnancies are unplanned and it appears the recession affected the other half. Births in California were down by 15,000 and in Florida, by 8,000 in 2008 compared to 2007.

The nation recorded about 4,247,000 births last year, down about 68,000 from 2007, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

This recession began in December 2007, and since then the economy has lost almost 7 million jobs.

But the downturn's effect on the public psychology — and families' willingness to have babies — may not have really hit until the fall of 2008, said Stephanie Ventura of the health statistics center, the agency that put out the report...2007 was a year in which more babies were born in the United States than any other year in the nation's history.

While the recession probably played an important role in fewer babies, another factor may be the net decline in recent years in immigration to the United States,...


Recession Means Fewer Babies; US Births Fell 2 Pct