Health

Birth Rates Spike Among Women In Their 30s And 40s, CDC Report Says

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James Lynch Contributor
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A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Jan. 31 shows birth rates increased among women between the ages of 25 and 44, especially those in their late 30s and early 40s.

Birth rates went up from 2% to 5% among women aged 25-44 from 2020 to 2021, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The birth rate for women aged 25-29 went up 2% to 93.0 per 1,000 women. From 2007-20, birth rates within the same group dropped in all but one year. Women aged 30-34 had a 3% increase in birth rates from 2020-21 to 97.6, reversing an annual decline from 2017-20, the study shows. (RELATED: Most Women Who Had Abortions Say They Felt Pressure To Do So, Study Finds)

2021 marks the sixth straight year where birth rates among women aged 30-34 had higher birth rates than those aged 25-29, the CDC reported. The highest increase in birth rates came for women aged 35-39, whose births went up 5% to 53.7 births in 2021. Women in their early 40s also had an increase in birth rates up to 12.0 births, a 2% increase.

Birth rates dropped for teenagers down to their lowest levels on record, according to the CDC’s data. Birth rates for females aged 15-19 declined 7% to 13.9 births, a record low. The birth rates among teenage females have dropped 67% since 2007 and 78% since the high in 1991.

General fertility rates went up 1% for women aged 15-44, to 56.3 births per 1,000 women in the first increase since 2014. The total fertility rate went up 1% to 1,664.0 births per 1000 women, below the replacement level threshold of 2,100 births.

The CDC calculated 2021 birth rates by using data from all 3.66 million birth certificates. More than 99% of births in the U.S. are registered, and the data does not include figures from territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam.