NPR : News

Filed Under:

U.S. Fertility Rates Fall To All-Time Low

By: Scott Hensley // February 11, 2013
comments

Here we go again.

The rate at which American women are having babies fell by 1 percent in 2011, continuing a decline that's been under way for years.

There were 63.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in 2011 (the lowest on record), compared with 64.1 in 2010 and 66.2 in 2009.

A deeper look at the numbers reveals some other noteworthy trends.

Births to teenagers hit another low — 31.3 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, down from 34.2 in 2010.

Fertility rates rose a little for older women — climbing 1 percent to 10.3 births per 1,000 women aged 40 to 44 from 10.2 in 2010. The rate of births was unchanged for women aged 45 to 49.

The infant mortality rate was 6.05 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011, about the same as the rate of 6.15 in 2010. There has been some improvement in the U.S. The rate stood at 6.91 in 2000 and 9.22 in 1990.

But the U.S. could do a whole lot better. A table that's part of the analysis published in the latest issue of Pediatrics puts the U.S. just behind Hungary and Slovak Republic in a list of 30 nations ranked by infant mortality.

Top of the charts: Hong Kong, Japan and Finland.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Arts & Culture

NPR

Fictional 'Mothers' Reveal Facts Of A Painful Adoption Process

After years trying to conceive, novelist Jennifer Gilmore and her husband decided to adopt. What they thought would be a relatively simple process was instead a long and painful one. In her latest novel, Gilmore channels these autobiographical experiences into fiction.

Food

NPR

In Raw Milk Case, Activists See Food Freedom On Trial

Activists say the case against Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger is about raw milk — and much more. His supporters have turned the case into a rallying cry for personal food freedom and the rights of farmers and consumers to enter into private contracts without government intervention.

Politics

NPR

Lois Lerner's Brief And Awful Day On Capitol Hill

The IRS bureaucrat showed up long enough at a House hearing into the scandal engulfing her agency to declare her innocence and her constitutional right to say no more.

Technology

NPR

How That 'Nigerian Email Scam' Got Started

You've probably seen it in your inbox before: Someone who claims to have come into a fortune needs your help. You can share in the profits — if you send along a deposit or your bank account number. Boston Globe correspondent Finn Brunton talks about the history of the "Nigerian prince" or "419" scam, which actually got its start long before email.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.