Recently, the Pew Research Center released a report exploring the declining birth rate in the United States. In 2011, the birth rate reached an all time low. While birth rates have declined for all women in recent decades, the rate of decline is significant greater among foreign born women.
Among all American women the change in birth rates by age group between 1990 and 2010 is
- Ages 15-19: -11%
- Ages 20-34: -8%
- Ages 35+: +18%
- Overall: -11%
So What?
Many factors, including the economy, contributed to the birth rate reaching a new all time low in 2011. Given the longer term trend, however, it is reasonable to expect the new all time low will not stand as a record for long.
- What factors do you believe have contributed most significantly to the overall decline in birth rates among American women over the last 20 years? to diminishing the birth rate gap between foreign born and US born women?
- What are the implications of these trends for the mission and ministry of your local congregation?