Why is the U.S. Birth Rate Finally Rising?

Fr. Mark Hodges : Jun 26, 2015
LifeSiteNews

"Pro-life sentiment in this country is gradually increasing [and] people who are pro-life tend to be open to life." – Steve Mosher, Population Research Institute

(Washington, DC)—For the first time in seven years, the U.S. birth rate has risen, according to recorded U.S. birth certificates. (Photo: Shutterstock/via LifeSiteNews)

The number of births rose to 3.98 million babies born alive in 2014. It's the most births since 2010, and the first time since 2007 that the number of annual births have risen.

Births rose during the late 1990s and hit an all-time high of over 4.3 million in 2007. But they began to plunge during the economic downturn caused by the Great Recession and the weakest economic "recovery" in memory. LifeSiteNews has noted the alarming trend of falling U.S. birth rates over the past several years.

Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau said rising birth rate is because of an improving economy. Laura Lindberg, researcher at Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute, said, "I think as people feel their paycheck is more stable, it feels like a safe environment to have a child in."

Pro-life leaders, however, see other factors in the rising birth rate. Dr. Michael New, political science professor at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, explains, "A lower percentage of women facing unintended pregnancies are choosing abortion... Pro-life educational and service efforts, such as pregnancy-resource centers, have likely played a role."

"What we have seen is quite remarkable," said Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

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