The Demographic Time Bomb: US Birth Rate at All-Time Low

The scariest three-word phrase in the English language may end up being “consumer-driven economy.”

Consumer spending comprises 70% of US GDP. And with all the esoterica and tea-leaf reading that goes on in economic theory, this data input is pretty basic. Fewer consumers (not to mention fewer productive workers) is a fundamental future problem for national economic growth.

The number of babies being born in the United States continues to fall, with the birth rate reaching a new record low in 2017, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, about 3.8 million babies were born in the U.S., which is 2 percent lower than the number born in 2016, and the lowest recorded number of births in 30 years, according to the report.

What's more, there were about 60 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, which is 3 percent lower than the rate in 2016, and the lowest recorded rate since the government started tracking birth rates in 1909.

The decline in the U.S. birth rate from 2016 to 2017 was the largest single-year drop since 2010, the researchers wrote in the report, which was published today (May 17).

The teen birth rate fell 7 percent from 2016 to 2017, to a rate of 19 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19. In addition, birth rates generally declined for women under 40, reaching record lows among women in their 20s, the report authors found.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: US Birth Rate Hits All-Time Low: What's Behind the Decline? by Rachael Rettner at Live Science on 5/17/18