US Births Rose 1% In 2024, CDC Finds: Driven By Hispanic, Asian Women

Births in the U.S. rose slightly in 2024, as per new CDC data, marking a small break in a long-term fertility decline that started during the Great Recession. But demographers say the increase, just 1%, is no reason to celebrate, or definite proof of a reversal.

What Happened: The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics recorded almost 3.6 million births last year, a 1% jump from 2023. More births came from Hispanic and Asian women, up 4% and 5% respectively, while the number of births went down for Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women.

The report also indicated an ongoing shift: more women aged 40-44 are having children. This trend can be traced back nearly four decades.

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Why It Matters: Despite the minor increase, experts say U.S. fertility is still in flux. "There continues to be very fundamental transformations of fertility and the family in the US," said Hans-Peter Kohler, a demographer at the University of Pennsylvania, to the Guardian.

He cited economic uncertainty, high childcare costs, and evolving cultural attitudes as key factors influencing family formation in the country.

The CDC report comes at a time when the Trump administration promotes pro-natalist rhetoric while proposing budget cuts to Head Start, a vital early childhood education program.

Last month, billionaire and Trump advisor Elon Musk expressed concerns about falling birth rates in Western countries, sharing that this is a thought that keeps him up at night.

Kohler warned that without massive systemic changes, minor policy changes are unlikely to have a significant effect. "The challenges families face are just of a different order of magnitude than the policies being discussed," he said.

The CDC report does not mention the impact of key factors like abortion restrictions, which may be silently reconfiguring birth patterns in multiple states with bans.

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