(WTXL) — The birth rate in the US fell in 2018 and has reached the lowest level in over 30 years, according to a new report.
The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics says that 3,791,712 births were registered in 2018, which is two percent lower than in 2017.
The total fertility rate, which refers to the number of children women have overall, was 1,729.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in 2018. The birth rate refers to how many children have in just one specific year.
According to the report, there need to be 2,100 births per 1,000 women for the US to reproduce and for the population to remain stable.
That reportedly means each woman would need to have two babies in order to replace mothers and fathers as well as account for any extra deaths.
The data in the report showed that birth rates for women in their 20s and 30s went down, but increased a little bit for women between the ages of 35 and 44.
The teen birth rate for girls 15 to 19 fell seven percent according to the report, going from 18.8 births per 1,000 women in 2017 to 17.4 births per 1,000 in 2018.
You can read the full report here.
