Not Enough Babies Being Born In MA To Replace Population: CDC

Jean Dubail
New statistics released by the government show that the fertility rate is down across most of the country.

The fertility rate in the United States is below what researchers say is the level needed for the country’s population to replace itself over time. New figures released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics show that the 2017 total fertility rate in the United States is 16 percent lower than that required level.

Only two states in the country had a fertility rate sufficient for the population to replace itself, according to the NCHS, which defines the total fertility rate as the expected number of births per 1,000 women over their lifetimes, given the current birth rates by age group.

A rate of 2,100 births per 1,000 women is considered adequate, according to the NCHS. But in Massachusetts, the fertility rate was 1,506 births per 1,000, well below the replacement level.

The state recorded 70,702 births in 2017, NCHS figures show.

In May 2018, the CDC revealed that the United States birth rate hit a 30-year low in 2017 for nearly all age groups of women under 40.

Falling fertility rates are the rule in most of the industrialized world, and in some countries the lack of population stability is thought to have a depressing effect on economic growth. But in the U.S., immigration tends to keep the overall population growing.

South Dakota had the highest overall total fertility rate (2227.5 births per 1,000 women), followed by Utah (2,120.5 births per 1,000 women). The District of Columbia had the lowest total fertility rate (1,421 births per 1,000 women) and states concentrated in the eastern U.S. were among those with the lowest fertility rates. In the west, California, Oregon and Colorado had the lowest fertility rates.

The report also looked at total fertility rates among non-Hispanic white women, non-Hispanic black women and hispanic women. For non-Hispanic white women, no states had a total fertility level above the replacement level. Among non-Hispanic black women,12 states had an adequate rate while 29 states had an adequate level among Hispanic women.

The NCHS calculated the total fertility rates based on birth certificate data from 2017.

You can read the full NCHS report here.

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