Baby population growth slows; recession factor?

WASHINGTON (AP) - New census data shows that just before the earliest stages of the recession, there was a steep decline in the population growth of children less than a year old in the U.S.

By: Associated Press | WNCT
Published: May 19, 2009

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WASHINGTON (AP) - New census data shows that just before the earliest stages of the recession, there was a steep decline in the population growth of children less than a year old in the U.S.
Experts have long known that with rising job cuts and home foreclosures, couples often decide the timing isn't right to have children. But the mystery here is that the pregnancy falloff reflected in the government data actually began months before Wall Street's plunge last September.
Stephanie Ventura, a demographer for the National Center for Health Statistics, says U.S. couples, who on average have two children, might have instinctively known to slow down amid early signs of economic trouble.
But she says a firm conclusion on that will have to await demographic breakdowns later in the year. Teen births have been driving recent increases.

On the Net:
Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov
National Center for Health Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/