In the USA fertility rates touch the lowest level ever recorded in the history of USA during the first quarter of 2017, reflecting both biological and social changes among the population, including delaying child-bearing and electively choosing not to have children.
In the first quarter of 2017, fertility rate to fell to 57.7 birth per 1,000 women aged between 15-44 years, decrease of 5.9 % from the previous quarter ,3.8% compared to the same period in 2016. Women aged between 40-44 years were kept an outlier, with the birth rate among these women continuing to increase slightly during the first quarter by almost 1%.
USA ranked 138th of 202 economies globally by total fertility rate by the World Bank in 2015.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the popular age for childbirth is women aged between 30-34 years, and it recently shifted to the age between 25-29 year old age group.
Socio-economic factors and government policies have major impact on fertility rates.
During 2016 there was largest decline in US fertility rates among teens. Births to teenagers aged between 15-17 and 18-19 years old decreased by 10.8% and 8.5% year-over-year, respectively.
On the other hand fertility rates among US women aged between 35-39 had been trending upward, the first quarter 2017 rate declined to early 2015 levels.
Four US states had more deaths than births as well as the lowest growth rates in live births: West Virginia, Maine, Vermont and (the US territory of) Puerto Rico.
