Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
3.1. A relatively high fertility rate due to immigration
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0
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1960
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U.S.A.
World
Industrialized Countries
Figure 3.2.
Fertility rate trends (number of children per woman) 1950-2005
(Source: UN, Population Division)
The United States stands out among northern countries with a total fertility rate
(TFR) which comes close to the replacement level. Following the postwar Baby
Boom, the introduction of contraception (1960) led to a reduction of the TFR in the
US, which reached its lowest level in the early 1980s before rising again, unlike in
Europe and Japan, where the TFR rate continued to fall for another 20 years, before
leveling out (see Figure 3.2).
There are currently more than four million births per year in the United States
and the number continues to grow each year (0.5% per year). However, the average
number of children for a 45-year-old woman was only 1.9 in 2004, compared with
3.1 in 1957. In 2004 nearly 19% of women aged 40 to 44 years remained childless
compared to less than 10% in 1957. Conversely, the number of women with at least
three children went from 59% in 1957 to 29% in 2004.
The recent progress of the TFR is mostly related to a rejuvenation of the
population of women aged 15 to 49 years, as well as to early pregnancies in certain
ethnic and social groups. The fertility rate of women of Hispanic origin was 2.3
children per woman in 2004, compared to 1.8 for black women and 1.9 for non-
Hispanic white women. High immigration from Latin America has, therefore, been
the main cause of increasing fertility rates in recent years.
