Baby Bust: 2015 had lowest U.S. fertility rate ever, down 600,000 births

[JimG]

In my own extended family, the generation before me married early and had lots of kids, an average of six kids per couple. My generation? Most of us aren’t married, those of us who managed to get married get divorced. The amount of kids born to my generation in the family you can count on the fingers of one hand. The difference between generations is like night and day.

My parents had five children plus there was one miscarriage. My uncles and aunts—mom and dad’s brothers and sisters—all had about five or six children each. That was not considered a large family. A large family was someone with 10 or 12 kids.

I never even knew a kid with divorced parents until I started teaching 5th grade CCD when I was 29.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

My parents had five children plus there was one miscarriage. My uncles and aunts—mom and dad’s brothers and sisters—all had about five or six children each. That was not considered a large family. A large family was someone with 10 or 12 kids.

I never even knew a kid with divorced parents until I started teaching 5th grade CCD when I was 29.

I have 4 kids (today it’s considered a big family)

My parents had 7 kids (at the time it was considered a big family)

My grandparents had 11 kids (at the time it was considered a big family)

My great-grandparents had 20 kids (at the time it was considered a big family).

 

[JimG]

I have 4 kids (today it’s considered a big family)

My parents had 7 kids (at the time it was considered a big family)

My grandparents had 11 kids (at the time it was considered a big family)

My great-grandparents had 20 kids (at the time it was considered a big family).

Wow! Looks like a downhill trend in microcosm! Still, if the typical family today had 4 kids the nation would not be facing a demographic problem.

 

[misspriss]

Grandparents had 2, my parents had 3 (the last one was a surprise, they only intended to have 2), right now I have 2, although I hope to have more.

Infertility, for various reason, could be a factor.

My uncle had no children with his first wife, which was before I was born. His second wife who he is still married to was unable to have children. My older sister suffers from unexplained infertility. My younger sister is not married, still a virgin. She does not know a) if she will be able to have children, or b) if she even wants them.

My husband’s mom and at least one, maybe both of his aunts had hysterectomies young. I don’t know the reason, but at least his mom was unable to have any more children besides him, not for lack of trying.

It’s more common that I had ever thought.

 

[Darryl1958]

I don’t know where you are getting your statistics from, I am getting mine from (cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2054rank.html), but AFRICA has the highest birth rates in the world, along with many islamic countries. However, Muslims do NOT = ISIS, for ISIS, like the Nazis in Germany during WW2, is an extremist group and makes up around 15 - 20% of all Muslims. however, many of these same countries also have the highest child death rates according to (cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html).

Also, children do not ask to be brought in the world, we all were forced to by our parents and had no say in the matter, it is not about children not being worthy enough!

I am not getting my statistic from anywhere other than you are getting them. I wasn’t really making a statistical argument, and didn’t realize that you were.

Of course Muslims do not equal ISIS, although all ISIS are Muslims. None of them are Christians.

You are making the argument that not having children is the moral choice. It seems to me that if that is the choice that moral people make, then that is the same as letting the evil people be plentiful and multiply the next generation.
where is the morality in that?

 

[Darryl1958]

So the reason to have children is to have a caretaker for your later years?

Well, that is the reason that the man gave me for having five kids.
Do you disagree with him, or do you prefer other people’s kids taking care of you in your old age, through their taxes?

 

[JimG]

The fact of the matter is–somebody’s kids will be taking care of you in your old age.
If you’re lucky, they will want to take care of you. If not, they’ll be looking closely at the new laws which make it easier to do you in. One hopes for kids who appreciate their elders.

 

[Darryl1958]

The fact of the matter is–somebody’s kids will be taking care of you in your old age.
If you’re lucky, they will want to take care of you. If not, they’ll be looking closely at the new laws which make it easier to do you in. One hopes for kids who appreciate their elders.

In China, as a result of their one child policy, there is nobody to take care of the ageing peasants.
They end up working until they drop dead in the field.
Old people turn invalid and then they die. It is just the way it is. If you don;t come from a country that has cradle to grave entitlements, you are sol.
If you do come for a country with cradle to grave, might you not be gaming the system living off of the tax dollars of other people’s children, that you yourself could not be bothered to have?

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

Wow! Looks like a downhill trend in microcosm! Still, if the typical family today had 4 kids the nation would not be facing a demographic problem.

You could say I have a very very large family relation.

My great-grandparents 20 children situation is a little misleading, but only a little. There were two farms that bordered each other. One family had 11 children and the other family had 8. The father of one farm died and the mother of the other farm died. The two widowed persons then married and had one child together to make 20 total. I’m “only” blood-related to 12 of my great-grandparents 20 children. Still, this recap gives a glimpse of family life back then. I’m sure the two got married due in part out of necessity due to more hands making two farms workable.

Regarding my grandparents 11 children, they received support from the government for a while when times were tough (the stock market crash of 1929 took place on their one year anniversary). I do find it interesting that during those tough economic times they managed to have 11 children during most of those difficult times. Needlesstosay, I’m sure the ‘New Deal’ was pivotal to helping my grandparents at that time with the key thing to point out being that they were not pemanently on government assistance. They later made a go of things without the government.

 

[RPRPsych]

Grandparents had 2, my parents had 3 (the last one was a surprise, they only intended to have 2), right now I have 2, although I hope to have more.

**Infertility, for various reason, could be a factor.
**
My uncle had no children with his first wife, which was before I was born. His second wife who he is still married to was unable to have children. My older sister suffers from unexplained infertility. My younger sister is not married, still a virgin. She does not know a) if she will be able to have children, or b) if she even wants them.

My husband’s mom and at least one, maybe both of his aunts had hysterectomies young. I don’t know the reason, but at least his mom was unable to have any more children besides him, not for lack of trying.

It’s more common that I had ever thought.

Agreed on this. I sometimes wonder if there are biological factors (besides the obvious one of later marriage / childbearing and its attendant risks) that are lowering fertility in some parts of the world, particularly the more “developed” ones. I have my theories, but without further study, they’re just theories. (And strangely, this problem also seems to affect the more “affluent” classes even in “developing” countries like my own. Hmmm… )

 

[stinkcat_14]

Well, that is the reason that the man gave me for having five kids.
Do you disagree with him, or do you prefer other people’s kids taking care of you in your old age, through their taxes?

The sad thing is that both republicans and democrats favor welfare state policies that discourage personal responsibility. If people would save for their own end of life care, then having someone else take care of you would not be a burden.

 

[Catholic_farmer]

One major reason is that women wait longer to start families. Now, if a couple has been sexually active for a decade or so before marriage, they are likely to have experienced a sexually transmitted disease. Most VDs result in damage to the reproductive systems, especially in women. In addition, birth control methods, especially for women, can also have prolonged negative effects. Thus, lower fertility rates.

However, if women and men resist the temptations of pre-marital sex, they may be naturally less fertile in their 30’s, but the lack of both VD’s and exposure to chemical birth control increases their chances of conception.

Best advice is to hold off on sex until marriage, even if it means waiting longer because of other commitments.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

Perhaps there is another cause, a reduction in teen pregnancy. One of the themes in teen pregnancy PSAs have been the difficulties of teenage parenting including the loss of freedom, impacts on education, social life, finances, career, etc. The birthrates to <19 women has dropped (a good thing), but don’t the issues facing a teen mother still linger into the 20s for most people? We’re most of us “ready” for children before their late 20s if not 30s?

Besides, not becoming a teen parent or even young adult parent could mean one gets good at avoiding (via abstinence or other methods).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Perhaps there is another cause, a reduction in teen pregnancy. One of the themes in teen pregnancy PSAs have been the difficulties of teenage parenting including the loss of freedom, impacts on education, social life, finances, career, etc. The birthrates to <19 women has dropped (a good thing), but don’t the issues facing a teen mother still linger into the 20s for most people? We’re most of us “ready” for children before their late 20s if not 30s?

Besides, not becoming a teen parent or even young adult parent could mean one gets good at avoiding (via abstinence or other methods).

I think you’re right that dropping birth rates is at least related to reductions in teen pregnancy. But that’s not 100% good.

Nobody is more fertile than a woman of about age 17-21 or so. After age 30, fertility drops off a lot. Even though a woman in her 30s is capable of becoming pregnant, it’s less so than it is for a woman age 18.

Long ago, women got married in their teens as often as not, and started their adult lives. Nobody thought somehow that they were “deprived” due to it. That’s no longer the case.

Back in the dark ages when I graduated high school in a rural place, nearly everybody got married right after high school. The girls became women and the boys became men. And far and away most of them took responsible places in society. Adolescence is now prolonged, and for a lot of the men and women graduating high school now, I’m not sure prolonging adolescence serves any useful purpose for them.

 

[Darryl1958]

I think you’re right that dropping birth rates is at least related to reductions in teen pregnancy. But that’s not 100% good.

Nobody is more fertile than a woman of about age 17-21 or so. After age 30, fertility drops off a lot. Even though a woman in her 30s is capable of becoming pregnant, it’s less so than it is for a woman age 18.

Long ago, women got married in their teens as often as not, and started their adult lives. Nobody thought somehow that they were “deprived” due to it. That’s no longer the case.

Back in the dark ages when I graduated high school in a rural place, nearly everybody got married right after high school. The girls became women and the boys became men. And far and away most of them took responsible places in society. Adolescence is now prolonged, and for a lot of the men and women graduating high school now, I’m not sure prolonging adolescence serves any useful purpose for them.

The ‘useful’ purpose of deferred adulthood is to limit the amount of people in the work force. It helps to mask the chronic underachievement of the modern economy.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

Ah yes, the cruel irony. A woman’s most fertile time is when she is (probably) less able care for them (financially and such).

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

Ah yes, the cruel irony. A woman’s most fertile time is when she is (probably) less able care for them (financially and such).

‘back in the day’ it wasn’t unusual for young women to marry men significantly older than themselves. The thinking being that men establish themselves first (financially and such) and then marry a younger woman to support a family.

 

[Ridgerunner]

‘back in the day’ it wasn’t unusual for young women to marry men significantly older than themselves. The thinking being that men establish themselves first (financially and such) and then marry a younger woman to support a family.

My dad was ten years older than my mom when they married. He wouldn’t consider marriage until he was stable in his employment and had sufficient money to put a sizeable down payment on a home. That wasn’t unusual at the time.

But lots of young men achieved financial stability very quickly after high school. Of course, almost all of them put in a stint in the armed forces beforehand, too. Helped them grow up, and they came out with money in their pockets if they didnt’ waste it.

 

[Convert_in_99]

Really. I’ve noticed many more families having 3-6 children. A lot more. Not just in Catholic or Christian circles either. Must be different in other states. I live in Tenneesee FWIW.

 

[Sarcelle]

I think you’re right that dropping birth rates is at least related to reductions in teen pregnancy. But that’s not 100% good.

Nobody is more fertile than a woman of about age 17-21 or so. After age 30, fertility drops off a lot. Even though a woman in her 30s is capable of becoming pregnant, it’s less so than it is for a woman age 18.

Long ago, women got married in their teens as often as not, and started their adult lives. Nobody thought somehow that they were “deprived” due to it. That’s no longer the case.

Back in the dark ages when I graduated high school in a rural place, nearly everybody got married right after high school. The girls became women and the boys became men. And far and away most of them took responsible places in society. Adolescence is now prolonged, and for a lot of the men and women graduating high school now, I’m not sure prolonging adolescence serves any useful purpose for them.

What kind of jobs does an eighteen year old with a high school diploma get nowadays? Is there or are there jobs where an eighteen year old can get and be able to support a wife and babies?