Thaindian News

Apr 7 (THAINDIAN NEWS) After being on a decline for the last twelve years, the birth rate in the United States of America has dropped to the lowest that it has ever been, since records have been kept. According to the statistics which were released by the Centers for Disease Control, America’s birth rate is on a continuing drop. The birth rate among teenage girls also feel to an all time low, which continues the slow decline that began in 1991.

The rate has been steadily falling: 13.9 percent for every 1000 people in 2002, from 14.1 for every 1000 people in 2001, and a whole 17 percent lower than in 1990, the most recent peak. According to the Centers for Disease Control reports, the analysts believe that the reason for this is because the life span of Americans is longer, and therefore fewer women are of childbearing age. For the birth rates among those women who are of child bearing age,(20s and early 30s) the numbers have also declined. The rates for older mothers (35-44) is still on the rise. The rates for women over 45 stayed the same.

Teenage pregnancy rates dropped to 43 births for every 1000 girls from ages 15-19. The drop in birth rates for younger teens was even greater. “The reduction in teen pregnancy has clearly been one of the most important public health success stories of the past decade,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in a CDC press release. “The fact that this decline in teen births is continuing represents a significant accomplishment.”