–
The fertility rate in 2021 was 1.66 children per woman (Illustration).
Getty Images via AFP
The number of births increased slightly in 2021 in the United States, which had not happened for seven years, according to provisional data released Tuesday by American health authorities.
Some 3,659,289 births were recorded in the country last year, around 1% more than in 2020, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported. Since 2014, the number of births had continued to decline, on average by 2% per year, and even by 4% in 2020. The drop in 2020 had most certainly been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the authorities. Americans, even if it followed an underlying trend.
It could thus be that couples who temporarily postponed their childbirth plans that year are fueling the rebound observed in 2021. The fertility rate in 2021 was 1.66 children per woman, again up 1% from to the previous year — which had set an all-time low.
A fertility rate still below 2.1 children per woman
Despite this slight increase, this fertility rate remains well below the rate necessary for a generation to be renewed (2.1 children per woman), below which the United States fell in 1971. Among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 years, the birth rate reached a new low of 14.4 births per 1000 women (-6% compared to 2020).
The birth rate for this age group has fallen by 65% since 2007, when it has been falling steadily since, the NCHS noted. In addition, the rate of premature births increased by 4% in 2021 compared to the previous year, to reach a high since at least 2007.
AFP
Posted today at 06:42
You found an error?Please let us know.
–
Related