A new report by The Urban Institute has found that the Great Recession played an important role in accelerating declining birth rates in America.
"Although birth rates in the United States had been fairly stable for more than three decades, beginning in 2008 they began to fall, especially for women in their twenties," researchers at the Institute found. According to their report, the recession has resulted in "by far the slowest pace of any generation of young women in U.S. history."
The UI also researched the racial differences in birth rates, finding that Hispanic women have experienced the largest drop.
Researchers found that the reasons for the decline in births differ depending on ethnicity. Non-Hispanic white women, for example, are getting married at a much lower rate, while blacks and Latinas have seen a large decrease in nonmarital births.
But despite the surface differences, researchers at the UI found there is a common thread among all the demographics studied.
"For all three groups, the recession has accelerated a long-term decline in the proportion of married women in their twenties."
These declining birthrates have been on researchers' radars for years now. A study published last year by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs also found that "the increase in unemployment rates experienced between 2008 and 2013 will result in an additional 151,082 women who will remain childless at age 40," resulting in a "long-term loss of 420,957 conceptions (and 426,850 live births)."
"If it's your choice to not have children, that's one thing," researcher Hannes Schwandt said of the data. "If you're just unlucky and hit by high unemployment rates causing you to stay childless that's a whole other thing entirely."
"Although birth rates in the United States had been fairly stable for more than three decades, beginning in 2008 they began to fall, especially for women in their twenties," researchers at the Institute found. According to their report, the recession has resulted in "by far the slowest pace of any generation of young women in U.S. history."
The UI also researched the racial differences in birth rates, finding that Hispanic women have experienced the largest drop.
Researchers found that the reasons for the decline in births differ depending on ethnicity. Non-Hispanic white women, for example, are getting married at a much lower rate, while blacks and Latinas have seen a large decrease in nonmarital births.
But despite the surface differences, researchers at the UI found there is a common thread among all the demographics studied.
"For all three groups, the recession has accelerated a long-term decline in the proportion of married women in their twenties."
These declining birthrates have been on researchers' radars for years now. A study published last year by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs also found that "the increase in unemployment rates experienced between 2008 and 2013 will result in an additional 151,082 women who will remain childless at age 40," resulting in a "long-term loss of 420,957 conceptions (and 426,850 live births)."
"If it's your choice to not have children, that's one thing," researcher Hannes Schwandt said of the data. "If you're just unlucky and hit by high unemployment rates causing you to stay childless that's a whole other thing entirely."
