US birth rate falls to lowest point in more than a century

(AP) — The U.S. birth rate fell 4% last year — the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years. That’s according to a government report being released Wednesday.

The rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly every age group. It fell to the lowest point since federal health officials started tracking it more than a century ago.

Experts say the pandemic no doubt contributed to last year’s big decline. Anxiety about COVID-19 and its impact on the economy likely caused many couples to delay children. But many of the 2020 pregnancies began well before the U.S. epidemic.