US fertility falls to record low, fewest births in 32 years
Article publisher:
Washington Examiner
Article date:
18 May 2019
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
The U.S. fertility rate fell to a record low in 2018 and the number of births declined for a fourth consecutive year, the National Center for Health Statistics reported Wednesday.
The nation’s total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman would be expected to give birth to in her lifetime given current birth rates, reached a record low of 1.73, a decline of 2%. That is below the threshold for maintaining current population levels, 2.1 children for every mother.
The number of births, meanwhile, fell to 3,788,235, a decline of 2% and the lowest in 32 years.
The provisional data released Wednesday suggests that the U.S., which once enjoyed unusually high fertility for a rich nation, is becoming more like Japan and rich countries in Europe, which have long seen low fertility and, in some cases, lost population. U.S. fertility rates have now been below the replacement rate for a decade...
CAIRCO Notes
The articles states that America once "enjoyed" an unusually high fertility rate. Incorrect. America suffered the burden of unconstrained population growth. No country can grow forever within a finite land mass. This was pointed out by bioethicist Garrett Hardin. Misinformed writers, including the author of this Washington Examiner article, would do well to read Living Within Limits - The Enduring Relevance of Garrett Hardin.
American women voluntarily achieved replacement level fertility of 2.1 children per woman in 1972. Yet special interest growth mongers insist on high levels of immigration in order to increase the gross number of consumers in America. Mass immigration is driving America's population to double this century. This is not the future that Americans want for their children.