There were fewer babies born in the U.S. in 2022 than before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The birth rate stayed essentially stagnant between 2021 and 2022, dropping less than 1%. "It's essentially unchanged. It's a very small difference, relatively speaking, compared to the total number of births, which are in the millions," Brady Hamilton, a statistician demographer at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, told CBS News.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Experts are now unsure whether birth rates will return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon. "A birth rate below the replacement rate signals some major demographic changes on the horizon," Forbes wrote. The U.S. is not hitting the minimum birth rate, 2.1 children per woman, to replace the current population, which may lead to "an aging population and an economy that one day may struggle to find enough workers to fill key jobs and pay taxes," Forbes continued.
On the bright side, teenage births decreased to their lowest level in history in 2022, dropping 3% from 2021. "I'm excited the U.S. has made significant progress in reducing pregnancies among youth," Dr. Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, dean of the Duke University School of Nursing, told ABC News. Much of the change was attributed to wider knowledge of long-lasting birth control, like the IUD. The teenage birth rate has been on the decline since 1991.
"The all-time low should be an indication that we're continuing to move in the right direction," remarked Guilamo-Ramos.
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Philadelphia’s Calder GardensFeature A permanent new museum
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the riseThe Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
‘Nightmare bacteria’ are rapidly spreadingUnder the radar The infections are largely resistant to antibiotics
-
Kissing bug disease has a growing presence in the USThe explainer The disease has yielded a steady stream of cases in the last 10 years
-
Climate change is making us eat more sugarUnder the radar Sweets make the heat feel more manageable
-
Trump makes unmoored claims on Tylenol and autismSpeed Read No causal relationship has been established between autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Human evolution may be responsible for autism ratesUnder the radar Neurodiversity and a complex brain may go hand in hand
