BABY GAP

Birth Rate in the U.S. Plummets to 32-Year Low

The general fertility number is lower than in the years immediately following the Great Depression.

The number of babies being born in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level in 32 years, new government figures revealed Wednesday. “The major finding is that the fertility rates are reaching record lows,” said Brady Hamilton, who authored the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report found the total number of births in 2018 came in at 3,788,235, down 2 percent from the year before. The general fertility rate for 2018 was 59.0 births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44—that’s lower than in the years after the Great Depression. John W. Rowe, a professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said: “Long term, it means we’re going to have an increasing proportion of older people... [It will] have a significant impact on the labor force.”