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U.S. birth rate drops to record low, ending pandemic uptick
The pace of babies born each year in the U.S. has slowed to a new record low, according to an analysis of 2023 birth certificate data published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last year’s slowdown marks an official end to the uptick in new babies that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 3,591,328 babies were born in the U.S. in 2023, down 2% from the 3,667,758 born in 2022.
This is on par with annual declines seen before the pandemic, the report said, which averaged around 2% fewer babies each year.
There were already signs in the year before that a pandemic surge in births was coming to an end. There were slightly fewer babies born in 2022 compared to 2021, though agency officials said at the time that this drop was not large enough to be considered a statistically significant decline.
“Last year, the difference was very small. This year, it’s something on the order of 74,000 or thereabouts. So it’s fairly large,” the CDC’s Brady Hamilton, one of the report’s authors, told CBS News.
While records for nearly 100% of registered births have already been reported to the agency, the report’s estimates remain “provisional estimates” until the last remaining data is reported in.
Thursday’s new report by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics comes from closely watched data on birth certificates that the agency collects from state and local authorities throughout the year. The report was released earlier this year. Last year’s provisional report did not come out until June.
“We got started early and kept up the momentum, and this is how we managed to get this early release,” said Hamilton.
Total fertility rate falls
Last year’s total of new births adds up to a rate of 1,616.5 births per 1,000 women in the U.S. This figure, called the total fertility rate, calculates the average number of births that women will have over their lifetimes if current rates stay the same.
Unless the U.S. reaches 2,100 births per 1,000 — which works out to an average of 2.1 children per woman — the total population could shrink without other influxes of people. U.S. Census Bureau estimates have chalked up recent population growth to rebounding immigration and a drop in deaths.
The U.S. total fertility rate has been below what is needed to replace deaths of previous generations since 1971.
“Think about that in terms of the woman and her partner. So if you have a total fertility rate of two, you’re replacing him and you’re replacing her in the population. It has to be 2.1 to compensate for mortality,” said Hamilton.
The number of new births in 2023 was flat or declined from 2022 for most groups except Hispanic women, who saw an increase of 1%.
Teen birth rates plateau
Birth rates by age group were also down or unchanged from 2022 to 2023 for virtually all women, young and old. This includes women ages 40 to 44 years old, who had previously seen the pace of new babies born rise for almost every year since 1985.
However, a once plummeting rate of teen births has gradually flattened in recent years, falling 3% from 2022 to 2023. For every 1,000 female teens ages 15 to 19 years old, 13.2 births were reported.
“It’s important to remember that if you look at the years prior to that, 2007 to 2022, the rate for teen births 15 to 19 was declining by 7% on average. And now it’s declining by 2 and 3%. So the question is why,” said Hamilton.
“We need to look into finding out why it’s only declining half of what it has been doing, and it could be a number of factors. There’s a lot to be investigated and pieced out.”
The decline was smallest among younger teens, ages 15 to 17 years old, whose birth rate was virtually unchanged from 2022.
Cesarean deliveries increase again
According to the CDC’s new report, 32.4% of new births were cesarean deliveries in 2023, up from 32.1% in 2022’s figures.
This marks the fourth increase in a row in the rate of C-sections in the wake of the pandemic, after rates had slowed from 2009 through 2019.
Cesarean delivery rates are highest among Black moms, climbing to 37% last year. Rates also inched up for Asian, White and Hispanic women.
Among low-risk births, cesarean deliveries have climbed to 26.6%. Low-risk deliveries are defined as head-first births of single babies at full term, at least 37 weeks in, to moms who have never had children before.
This is the highest rate since 2013, the report says.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.