The lockdown baby boom! America’s birth rate rose 1% from 2020 to 2021 — after falling 2% the year before — with Connecticut and New Hampshire seeing a 7% increase, according to the CDC
- America’s birth rate rose 1% from 2020 to 2021, reversing previous downward trends
- A year earlier, from 2019 to 2020, national births fell by 2%
- It’s possible the lockdown to curb the spread of Covid may have played a role in the rising birth rate
- White and Hispanic Americans were the only two racial groups to see rising births in 2021
The trend of falling birth rates in America halted in 2021, though the recorded increase has been minimal, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2021, 3,659,289 births were registered, a one percent increase from 2020’s 3,613,647. The 2020 figure was a two percent decrease from 3,747,540 the year before.
A 1 percent increase, while not particularly significant, is helping to reverse the downward trend in birth rates that has plagued the US and many other western nations in recent years.
It also signals that the COVID-19 The pandemic may have played a role in birth rates – as many children conceived during lockdown in 2020 were born in 2020.
Both white and Hispanic Americans saw increases in births in 2020-2021, with the latter in particular seeing limited declines over the past two years despite sharp declines among other races.
Data for the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics showed 2019, 2020, and 2021 birth rates for all racial groups and in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
White Americans account for just over half of births in the United States, with nearly 1.9 million of the 3.7 million being from the group.
The next largest group were Hispanics — with 0.8 million births in 2020.
They were also the only two ethnic groups to see increases in birth rates from 2020 to 2021 – both rising slightly by 2 percent year on year.
Asian Americans and Native Americans both suffered sharp declines from 2019-2021, accounting for a massive portion of the losses over the biennium at 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Black Americans also saw declining birth rates, falling six percent from 2019 to 2021.
The changes in the various states were also very different. Not a single U.S. state saw an increase in births from 2019-2020 — with New Hampshire’s flat rate being the highest of any state.
Some states saw sharp individual declines in birth rates in the first year of the pandemic.
In Wyoming, the number of births fell by seven percent from 2019 to 2020, the most of all states.
California and New York — two of America’s most populous states that have seen well-documented population declines in recent years — also saw birth rates fall by six percent between those years.
Hawaii also saw a six percent drop from 2019 to 2020.
Florida, Illinois, New Mexico and Oregon also saw declines of five percent each after the turn of the millennium.
In 2021, however, things picked up again. While reports of a pandemic-induced baby boom may never have really come to fruition, it’s clear that some changes have caused a sudden reversal in birth trends.
Only seven US states saw a declining birth rate from 2020 to 2021. With the lockdowns across America from March, nearly every single child who would have been conceived during strict Covid mandates was born in 2021.
The Northeastern states – many of which had the strictest Covid mandates that lasted the longest – saw the biggest jump in births.
Connecticut and New Hampshire led the way, each with a seven percent increase.
Nearby Vermont also saw a five percent year-on-year increase in its birth rate from 2020 to 2021.
Maine and Massachusetts — also in New England — each saw a four percent increase in birth rates in 2021. Just south of the pair is New Jersey, which had the same number.
Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and Tennessee also saw increases of four percent.
