Study: Birth rates drops during recession

LOS ANGELES -- The maternity business has experienced a recession, too, it appears.

Births fell 4 percent from 2007 to 2009, the biggest drop for any two-year period since the mid-1970s, according to federal government data released yesterday.

The rate, 66.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, isn't the lowest in recent memory. The 1997 rate was an all-time low of 63.6. But the authors of the report say preliminary data show the birth rate continued falling through the first half of 2010.

The report found:

Birth rates fell for all women except those 40 and older.

The birth rate for women ages 20 to 24 was the lowest recorded for that age group: 96.3 per 1,000.

Fewer families are having more than two children. Almost 75 percent of births in 2009 were first or second births.

The report was released by the National Center for Health Statistics. -- MCT