US Birth Rate drops to record low in 2011 - a chart !

[Tender Branson]

I created this Excel chart with birth, death and natural increase numbers and rates for each state and comparisons for the US with previous years:

SORTED BY STATE'S BIRTH RATE



The birth rate dropped from 14.3 in 2007 to 12.7 in 2011.

Utah of course continues to be the state with the highest rate.

[Tender Branson]

Next I'll do a chart that shows the increase/decrease in number of births in each state between 2007 (pre-recession high) and 2011 - and the change in the state's birth rates (which is a better indicator because of population growth).

[MilesC56]

This is pretty obvious, but the correlation between death rates and obesity is very strong. The one exception seems to be Maine; its a very healthy state, but has a high death rate.

[shua]

This is pretty obvious, but the correlation between death rates and obesity is very strong. The one exception seems to be Maine; its a very healthy state, but has a high death rate.

Lots of olds. 

[Chareth Cutestory]

Very interesting yet ultimately irrelevant. I resent the obsession placed on birth rates. The only benefit of high population growth is that there is an increasing amount of people willing to spend their increasingly minute share of the collective money on corporate products. That doesn't benefit society at all. Not to hijack an interesting thread on its own merits.

[Tender Branson]

Austria would be even below Maine in 2011:

It had a birth rate of 9.3 and a death rate of 9.1

My state of Salzburg would do slightly better: 9.5 for births vs. 8.0 for deaths

http://www.statistik.at/web_en/wcmsprod/groups/zd/documents/statueb/027681.pdf
http://www.statistik.at/web_en/wcmsprod/groups/zd/documents/statueb/027680.pdf
http://www.statistik.at/web_en/wcmsprod/groups/zd/documents/statueb/027679.pdf

[shua]

Very interesting yet ultimately irrelevant. I resent the obsession placed on birth rates. The only benefit of high population growth is that there is an increasing amount of people willing to spend their increasingly minute share of the collective money on corporate products. That doesn't benefit society at all. Not to hijack an interesting thread on its own merits.

People do not only consume. They also produce.

[Chareth Cutestory]

Very interesting yet ultimately irrelevant. I resent the obsession placed on birth rates. The only benefit of high population growth is that there is an increasing amount of people willing to spend their increasingly minute share of the collective money on corporate products. That doesn't benefit society at all. Not to hijack an interesting thread on its own merits.

People do not only consume. They also produce.

Barely. Especially in the US' "service" dominated economy.

[Tender Branson]

Next I'll do a chart that shows the increase/decrease in number of births in each state between 2007 (pre-recession high) and 2011 - and the change in the state's birth rates (which is a better indicator because of population growth).

Just finished this chart (you need to right-click it with your mouse to get the full-size pic):

(Sorted by "BIRTH RATE CHANGE IN %")



As you can see, North Dakota was the only state that saw a birth rate increase between 2007 and 2011, while Arizona had the biggest drop with more than 20%.

[opebo]

I do believe there is a great deal of deferred 'household formation' - marriage, reproduction, and yes, even sex, during periods of severe economic decline. 

[Redalgo]

It is nice to see the birth rate in decline but most of these numbers are still uncomfortably high.

[phk]

Is it just the smaller Generation X that's the cause of the falling birth rates? I imagine birth rates will pickup once the Echo Boomers start reproducing at high levels in 5-10 years.

[phk]

TenderBranson, can you just put this on a shared Google Docs Spreadsheet?

[Beet]

The recession probably is the main culprit. The days when children were an economic asset are long gone.

[opebo]

The recession probably is the main culprit. The days when children were an economic asset are long gone.

Actually this aspect could come back.  The new (and likely to be endemic) poverty and the lack of any social safety net envisioned by austerity advocates should eventually make having more children and using them in some remunerative employment a net plus for poors, as was the case before the Keynesian/redistributionist/unionist experiment.

[Tender Branson]

TenderBranson, can you just put this on a shared Google Docs Spreadsheet?

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2v0JH_9G14tS1JHYzl2QTRTQTg