Should we worry?

In the United States, births fell for the fourth year in a row. In the report, it stated that there was a steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births. Hispanic births have been affected by the economy and teen birth rates have been falling for at least 20 years now. A falling birth rate is a big surprise in this country. Births had been on the rise since the 1990's and hit an all-time high of  4.3 million in 2007. Fewer than 4 million births were counted last year , the lowest number since 1998.There is a theory that many women or couples who are out of work, underemployed or have other money problems think that they can't afford to start a family or add to it.

The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a view  at the 2011 birth certificate data from state health departments.

“Highlights of the report include:

• The birth rate for single women fell for the third straight year, dropping by 3 percent from 2010 to 2011. The birth rate for married women, however, rose 1 percent. In most cases, married women are older and more financially secure.
• The birth rate for Hispanic women dropped a whopping 6 percent. But it declined only 2 percent for black women, stayed the same for whites and actually rose a bit for Asian-American and Pacific Islanders.
• Birth rates fell again for women in their early 20's, down 5 percent from 2010 — the lowest mark for women in that age group since 1940, when comprehensive national birth records were first compiled. For women in their late 20's, birth rates fell 1 percent.
• But birth rates held steady for women in their early 30's, and rose for moms ages 35 and older. Experts say that's not surprising: Older women generally have better jobs or financial security, and are more sensitive to the ticking away of their biological clocks.
• Birth rates for teen moms have been falling since 1991 and hit another historic low. The number of teen births last year — about 330,000 — was the fewest in one year since 1946. The teen birth rate fell 8 percent, and at 31 per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19 was the lowest recorded in more than seven decades.”

Many people are astounded with the continued decline in the teen birth rate.

The new report also noted a fourth straight decline in how many children women have over their lifetimes. The current rate is a little more than 2 children per woman.  The U.S. rate last year was below 1.9. The United States C-section rate peaked at just fewer than 33 percent. Cesarean deliveries are sometimes medically necessary. But health officials have worried that many C-sections are done out of convenience or unwarranted caution. In the 1980's the government set a goal of keeping the national C-section rate at 15 percent.

I personally don't think that we should be worried at all about this. Having a stable birth rate is good, it keeps the country going. It is a good thing that women are deciding to have children when their older so they are wiser and don't make stupid decisions about it. They are more financially and emotionally available at the older age. It is a very good thing that teen birth rate is going down, i wouldn't have even guessed that. me, being a teen mom myself, seem to notice a lot more teen births actually. Oh well, as long as this country is continuing to thrive with life, I don't think we have much to worry about.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501367_162-57524932/baby-bust-continues-us-births-down-for-4th-year/