CDC Study Finds Birthrate Similar to Great Depression

Aug 11, 2011
Bob Yirka

Hard times effect child choices for women - meoossa

The CDC has conducted a study to determine if economic factors contribute to how many children women have and when.

Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have undertaken a study covering three groups and concerning women and childbirth; the results of which, they have published on the CDC web page. The results suggest that birth rates and the number of children per women, are heavily influenced by economic conditions

The CDC Study on Birthrates and Economic Situations

The report, called Childbearing Differences Among Three Generations of U.S. Women describes the results of a study described by its authors as an attempt to find out if there are, or were concrete trends in birth statistics that can be attributable to economic conditions.

To find out, the team studied three groups of women based on when they were born: 1910, 1935 and 1960.

What the CDC Study On the Impact of Economic Conditions on Birthrate Found

As described in the report, the group found that women born in 1935 had the most children on average of the three studied (they were part of the baby boom) while those born in 1960 had the fewest.

In addition, they found that women born in 1910 and 1935 started their childbearing at the youngest ages with an "average" age at first birth of 21 years; for women born in 1960, it was 23 years of age.

Also, thirty-seven percent of women born in 1935 had four or more children, while those born in 1960 were most likely to have just two (35%).

They also found that women born in 1910 (whose childbearing years were primarily during the Great Depression) were the most likely to be childless by age 50 (20 percent), whereas those born in 1935 (baby boomers) were the least likely (11 percent).

Conclusions Drawn from the Birthrate Study

The authors conclude their report by noting that women born in 1910, who were greatly affected by the Great Depression, gave birth to children in rates that appear similar in some respects to the women born in 1960. The second group, they note, were giving birth during the economic stagnation of the 1980's. This suggests, they say, that women born during the time frame 1990 to 2000, who would be in their primary childbearing years right now, might be similarly impacted by the Great Recession as some have taken to calling the current economic doldrums.

In summation, they say that hard economic times tend to cause women to put off both marriage and having children, and increase the likelihood of never having any children at all during the course of their lifetime.