Abstract
In this brief, Carsey Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that there were only 3,591,000 births in the United States in 2023, according to new data from National Center for Health Statistics. This is the fewest U.S. births since 1979, when the U.S. population was 225.1 million compared to 340 million in 2023. Births diminished because fertility rates declined significantly among women in their teens and twenties.
The long-term impact of the fertility decline has been substantial. Had 2007 fertility patterns been sustained through 2023, there would have been 10.6 million more births in the last 16 years.
A critical long-term question is: how many of these births are being delayed, and how many will be foregone? Although early expectations were that many of these births were only delayed, lower marriage rates and a rise in the proportion of childless women suggests that a significant number of these births will be foregone entirely. This has implications for health care, schools, child-related businesses, and eventually for the labor force.
Department
Carsey School of Public Policy
Publication Date
Spring 4-30-2024
Publisher
Durham, N.H. : Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Kenneth M., "U.S. Births Hit a 43-Year Low" (2024). The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository. 485.
https://scholars.unh.edu/carsey/485
Rights
Copyright 2024. Carsey School of Public Policy. These materials may be used for the purposes of research, teaching, and private study. For all other uses, contact the copyright holder.