The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. birthrate fell 4% to about 3.6 million births over the past year, the largest decline since 1973.
Births have been declining since the Great Depression as Americans got married later and held off on having children over the decades. The pandemic pronounced the effects of child birth due to the fear of visiting hospitals and lack of child care. Higher costs associated with raising children also inhibited families from growing especially for those that were unemployed during the pandemic.
It is expected that the drop in births due to the pandemic may have long-term consequences for the U.S. population, limiting growth relative to other developed countries.
Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
