Thirty-five states have fewer children than five years ago due to declining birth rates across the country and families moving to different areas to escape high house prices, new figures show.
California, Illinois and New Mexico had the largest decline, falling 6 percent between 2017 and 2022, according to a Analysis of status lines from the US Census Bureau. data.
High housing costs were reported to be a factor, as families moved for a lower price. cost of living. That has led to a drop in school attendance and now school staff face the possibility of layoffs.
Fertility rates have been historically low since 2010. There were 15 states, including Idaho and North Dakota, that increased their child population the largest at 4 percent.
There are 35 states with fewer children than five years ago due to declining birth rates across the country and families moving across state lines to escape rising home prices.
California, Illinois and New Mexico had the largest decline, falling 6 percent between 2017 and 2022, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the US Census Bureau.
Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, wrote in a report in January that California’s fertility rate dropped from 2.15 per woman in 2008 to 1.52 in 2020.
He also spoke about how more and more families are moving out of state for a lower cost of living, which is contributing to the decline in the child population.
“People want to buy a house and have kids, but they realize they can’t do it here, so they look around, in nearby states and work remotely so they can keep their California paychecks,” he said. Johnson.
Along with California, Illinois and New Mexico, they have also seen the lowest school enrollment in recent years since the pandemic.
Between 2012 and 2022, school enrollment in New Mexico decreased by 22 percent in the native-majority Central Consolidated Schools in San Juan County, according to the report. This compares to a statewide decline of 7 percent.
Central Consolidated school board president Christina Aspaas told the media that a recent mine closure forced many families to move to find work.
“Many Navajo workers who were employed had to move to Phoenix or another location out of state to earn the same wages,” Aspaas said.
‘It affected the local tribes, Hopi and Navajo, Diné. Seeing the impacts makes my heart break. These are all my children, and they deserve the best in education and in life.’
On the other hand, states like Idaho, North Dakota, and Florida are seeing an increase in school enrollment in recent years.
Jaap Vos, a planning professor at the University of Idaho in Boise, moved from Florida to Idaho “when it was still in the middle of nowhere,” he said, adding that the state has become known as a quaint and affordable place to raise children.
The state has also seen an influx of people migrating from Northern California, Washington and Utah.
“It could be for ideological reasons, people looking for a more conservative lifestyle,” Vos said.
Florida had the third-highest increase in the infant population between 2017 and 2022, at 2 percent, the data revealed, citing Hispanic births.
The US (green) and UK (orange) fertility rate fell rapidly in the 1970s and, despite occasional small spikes, has continued a steady decline over the years.
The world fertility rate has fallen by 51% between 1970 and 2020, from 4.9 children per woman to just 2.3. If it falls below 2.1, the world’s population will start to fall, experts warn. The birth rate has been declining in much of the developed world, with only African nations remaining in the lead.
Stefan Rayer, director of the population program at the state’s Office of Economic and Business Research, said: “Unless births increase substantially, due to Florida’s aging population, the state will likely experience a natural decline for the foreseeable future, with all growth coming from migration.”
In 2020, the global average fertility rate (the average number of children born to each woman) was 2.3, compared with 4.7 in 1970, a staggering 51 percent drop in half a century. Swaths of Europe and North America are registering less than an average of two births per woman.
Meanwhile, as fertility rates decline in much of the world, they continue to rise in Africa. Thirty-one of the 32 countries with the highest fertility rates are on the continent, with Niger in first place with a rate of 6.9 children per woman.
South Korea stands with the dubious honor of having the lowest fertility rate in the world, with each woman bearing 0.8 children, on average. In both the US and the UK, the fertility rate in 2020 was 1.6.
The Visual Capitalist chart compiled data from the World Bank, an international development organization run by world governments dating from 1960 to 2020.
The downward trend in fertility rates in the developed world is the result of multiple factors.
Women are having children much later in life as they prioritize their careers.
Couples also settle down and marry much later, reducing the biological window for women to have children. Declining fertility among men is also thought to be playing a role, linked to poor diet and sedentary lifestyles.
Fertility in the US has plummeted in recent decades (above). The average American woman now has only 1.6 children in her lifetime, well below the replacement level of 2.1. That’s a 15 percent drop from the 1.9 rate in 2010. North Dakota, South Dakota and Alaska are the most fertile states in the United States, with more than 65 annual births per 1,000 women of childbearing age (center left). Fertility rates have fallen the most since 2005 in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and California (middle right).
According to World Bank data, 106 countries have fertility rates below 2.1, a benchmark that experts say is necessary for a country to maintain its current population. Three countries, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Puerto Rico, have rates below 1.0.
Also among the worst in the world are Macau (1.0 fertility rate), Singapore (1.1), Malta (1.1), Ukraine (1.2), Spain (1.2), Italy (1 .2) and China (1.3).
All the world leaders in fertility rate are in Africa.
Somalia (6.4), Chad (6.4), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.2), Mali (6.0) and the Central African Republic (6.0) make up the top five countries in terms of rates of fertility, all of which have rates above 6.0.
Countries that lead the world in fertility are generally poorer nations that score low on development indices, have poorer sex education and access to contraception.