birth rate

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By The Center Square

In the continuation of a longer-term trend stretching back over a decade, the number of births in the U.S. fell by 4% in 2020, pushing the birth rate to its lowest point on record.

Experts attribute falling birth rates to the increase in the average age of mothers, as people have been marrying and having children later in life.

A growing body of evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic may have deterred many would-be parents from starting families.

As it has been since 2007, the U.S. birth rate is well below what is referred to as “replacement-level fertility,” the birth rate a country must maintain to keep population levels stable without immigration.

This could prove to be a problem.

Though it is difficult to predict the implications with any degree of certainty, an aging and shrinking population could slow economic growth, strain government funding, and lead to worker shortages.

In Wyoming, the birth rate is in line with the national average.

There were 10.8 births for every 1,000 people in the state between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021 compared with 10.8 per 1,000 nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates Program.

Wyoming’s birth rate ranks as the 24th lowest among states.

Births outpaced deaths in Wyoming in the most recent year of available data.

Excluding net migration — the number of people who moved to or from the state — Wyoming’s population expanded by 0.03% over the 12 months ending in July 2021.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Wyoming’s birth rates have been steadily declining over the last five years, according to a report backed up by state data.

According to personal finance website QuoteWizard, Wyoming, Alaska and Vermont saw the largest birth declines from 2014 to 2019.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said births across the nation are the lowest they have been in 35 years, with 3.75 million births recorded in 2019.

According to the Wyoming Department of Health’s vital statistics records, Wyoming saw 6,549 births in 2018, the most recent year covered by the state’s annual report on vital statistics. This is down almost 1,000 compared to 2013, when the state saw 7,617 births.

QuoteWizard stated that Wyoming saw a 14.7% decline of births, over two times more than the national average of a 6.3% decline. WDH spokeswoman Kim Deti didn’t comment on the article, instead directing Cowboy State Daily to the department’s vital statistic records.

In 2018, Uinta and Goshen counties saw drastic birth rate declines, at 20% and 28%, respectively.

The state has seen a steady decline in teen pregnancies, down to 20.7 per 1,000 people in 2018. However, there was no national data to compare to for that year.

2020 was the fifth year in a row that the number of births is down by an average of 1% every year. When looking at pre-pandemic pregnancy trends, rates from all age groups have been on a gradual decline, with the exception of women in their 40s.

In total, eight states saw a decline of more than 10% in births, and all but one state (Florida) saw a decline from 2014 to 2019.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the cost of raising a child to be over $230K from birth to 18 years of age. 

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