Monday, June 28, 2021

Births Declined in All 50 States

The results are in. The coronavirus pandemic led to a substantial decline in births in the United States. There were fewer births in the United States in every month of 2020 than in the same month of 2019, the National Center for Health Statistics reports. The decline during the second half of the year (6 percent) was greater than the decline in the first half of the year (2 percent). The biggest decline occurred in December, with 8 percent fewer births in 2020 than in December 2019. 

"The impact of the pandemic on the United States in 2020 varied by month," the NCHS reports. "The impact also varied widely by state as the infection spread across the United States." 

In the first half of 2020, the number of births fell in 20 states due to the long-term trend of declining fertility. In comparison, 27 states had declining births in the first half of 2019. 

In the second half of 2020, the effects of the pandemic began to emerge. The number of births declined in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In comparison, births declined in only 9 states in the second half of 2019. Here are the states with the largest declines...

States with the largest decline in births, second half of 2020 versus 2019
-11% in New Mexico
  -9% in New York
  -8% in California
  -8% in Hawaii
  -8% in West Virginia

The remaining states and D.C. had declines of 3 to 7 percent. 

"Evaluation of trends in births by month will continue to determine whether these declines continued into 2021 or were unique to 2020 during the time of the initial Covid-19 pandemic," the NCHS concludes.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Birth Data, Declines in Births by Month: United States, 2020

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