A new report from CDC抯
National Center for Health Statistics summarizes the 2004 birth data for the
United States. Key findings show:
Number
of births up; fertility rate up slightly in 2004. There were 4.1 million
births in 2004, nearly 1 percent more than in 2003. The general fertility
rate in 2004 was up slightly -- 66.3 live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44
years,
compared with 66.1 live births per 1,000 women in 2003.
Childbearing
by unmarried women reached a record high of almost 1.5 million births in
2004, up 4 percent from 2003. More than 4 in 5 births to teenagers were
among unmarried teens. Over half of births to women in their early twenties
and nearly 3 in 10 births to women aged 25-29 years were to unmarried women. The
birth rate among unmarried women of all ages increased 3 percent from 2003
to 2004. In 2004, 35.7 percent of all births were to unmarried women.
Teenage
birth rates declined again in 2004, but at a much slower pace than observed
since the declines started after 1991. The birth rate in 2004 for females
aged 15-19 years reached an all-time low of 41.2 births per 1,000. This was 1
percent lower than in 2003 (41.6), and 33 percent lower than the teenage birth
rate of 61.8 per 1,000 in 1991.
Childbearing
by women in their early twenties showed a decline. The birth rate for women aged
20� years decreased 1 percent, to 101.8 births per 1,000 women in 2004,
the lowest rate ever reported. Women aged 25-29 years had the highest U.S. birth
rate of 115.5 per 1,000 births. This rate was essentially unchanged from
2003.
Births
to older women continue to increase. From 2003 to 2004, the birth rate for
women aged 30� years increased slightly (less than 1 percent) whereas the
rate for women aged 35-39 years rose by 4 percent. The birth rate for women
40� years increased 3 percent, to 9.0 per 1,000, and the rate for women
aged 45� years increased in 2004 to 0.6 births per 1,000 women compared
with
0.5 in 2003.