Dr. Albert Mohler writes:
USA Today reported last week that the United States “is taking baby steps forward” in terms of the fertility rate. According to the forecasting group Demographic Intelligence, the USA’s total fertility rate is likely to increase to 1.90 per woman in 2013, up slightly from 1.89 in 2012. Last year’s figure was the lowest recorded in 25 years.
“The United States has seen marked declines in childbearing in the wake of the Great Recession, but we think that this fertility decline is now over,” Sam Sturgeon, president of Demographic Intelligence, told USA Today. “As the economy rebounds and women have the children they postponed immediately after the Great Recession, we are seeing an uptick in U.S. fertility.”
Sturgeon, like many others, points to economic factors as the main driver of fertility rate fluctuations. Similarly, Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau said: “Historically, we’ve seen fertility trends move up and down with economic indicators.”
But, wait just a minute.