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  1. #1
    rainbow13's Avatar
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    Against the trend, U.S. births way up

    Against the trend, U.S. births way up By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_ ... by_boomlet


    ATLANTA - Bucking the trend in many other wealthy industrialized nations, the United States seems to be experiencing a baby boomlet, reporting the largest number of children born in 45 years.

    The nearly 4.3 million births in 2006 were mostly due to a bigger population, especially a growing number of Hispanics. That group accounted for nearly one-quarter of all U.S. births. But non-Hispanic white women and other racial and ethnic groups were having more babies, too.

    An Associated Press review of birth numbers dating to 1909 found the total number of U.S. births was the highest since 1961, near the end of the baby boom. An examination of global data also shows that the United States has a higher fertility rate than every country in continental Europe, as well as Australia, Canada and Japan. Fertility levels in those countries have been lower than the U.S. rate for several years, although some are on the rise, most notably in France.

    Experts believe there is a mix of reasons: a decline in contraceptive use, a drop in access to abortion, poor education and poverty.There are cultural reasons as well. Hispanics as a group have higher fertility rates — about 40 percent higher than the U.S. overall. And experts say Americans, especially those in middle America, view children more favorably than people in many other Westernized countries.

    "Americans like children. We are the only people who respond to prosperity by saying, `Let's have another kid,'" said Nan Marie Astone, associate professor of population, family and reproductive health at Johns Hopkins University.

    Demographers say it is too soon to know if the sudden increase in births is the start of a trend.

    "We have to wait and see. For now, I would call it a noticeable blip," said Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Demographers often use the word boomlet for a small and brief baby boom.

    To many economists and policymakers, the increase in births is good news. The U.S. fertility rate — the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — reached 2.1. That's the "magic number" required for a population to replace itself.

    Countries with much lower rates — such as Japan and Italy, both with a rate of 1.3 — face future labor shortages and eroding tax bases as they fail to reproduce enough to take care of their aging elders.

    But the higher fertility rate isn't all good. Last month, the CDC reported that America's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years.

    The same report also showed births becoming more common in nearly every age and racial or ethnic group. Birth rates increased for women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, not just teens. They rose for whites, blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska Natives. The rate for Asian women stayed about the same.

    Total births jumped 3 percent in 2006, the largest single-year increase since 1989, according to the CDC's preliminary data.

    Clearly, U.S. birth rates are not what they were in the 1950s and early 1960s, when they were nearly twice as high and large families were much more common. The recent birth numbers are more a result of many women having a couple of kids each, rather than a smaller number of mothers, each bearing several children, Astone said.

    Demographers say there has been at least one boomlet before, around 1990, when annual U.S. births broke 4.1 million for two straight years before dropping to about 3.9 million in the mid-1990s. Adolescent childbearing was up at the time, but so were births among other groups, and experts aren't sure what explained that bump.

    The 2006 fertility rate of 2.1 children is the highest level since 1971. To be sure, the fertility rate among Hispanics — 3 children per woman — has been a major contributor. That's the highest rate for any group. In 2006, for the first time, Hispanics accounted for more than 1 million births.
    The high rate probably reflects cultural attitudes toward childbirth developed in other countries, experts said. Fertility rates average 2.7 in Central America and 2.4 in South America.

    Fertility rates often rise among immigrants who leave their homelands for a better life. For example, the rate among Mexican-born women in the U.S. is 3.2, but the overall rate for Mexico is just 2.4, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based research organization. "They're more optimistic about their future here," said Jeff Passel, a Pew Center demographer.

    Some complain that many illegal immigrants come here purposely to have children.

    "The child is an automatic American citizen, thus entitled to all benefits of American citizens. This gives a certain financial incentive for people coming from other countries illegally to have children here," said John Vinson, president of the Virginia-based American Immigration Control Foundation.
    Fertility rates were also relatively high for other racial and ethnic groups. The rate rose to 2.1 for blacks and nearly 1.9 for non-Hispanic whites in 2006, according to the CDC.

    Fertility levels tend to decline as women become better educated and gain career opportunities, and as they postpone childbirth until they are older. Experts say those factors, along with the legalization of abortion and the expansion of contraception options, explain why the U.S. fertility rate dropped to its lowest point — about 1.7 — in 1976.

    But while fertility declines persisted in many other developed nations, the United States saw the reverse: The fertility rate climbed to 2 in 1989 and has hovered around that mark since then, according to federal birth data.

    Kohler and others say the difference has more to do with culture than race. For example, white American women have more children than white European — even though many nations in Europe have more family-friendly government policies on parental leave and child care.

    But such policies are just one factor in creating a society that produces lots of babies, said Duke University's S. Philip Morgan, a leading fertility researcher.

    Other factors include recent declines in contraceptive use here; limited access to abortion in some states; and a 24/7 economy that provides opportunities for mothers to return to work, he said.

    Also, it is more common for American women to have babies out of wedlock and more common for couples here to go forward with unwanted pregnancies. And, compared with nations like Italy and Japan, it's more common for American husbands to help out with chores and child care.

    There are regional variations in the United States. New England's fertility rates are more like Northern Europe's. American women in the Midwest, South and certain mountain states tend to have more children.

    The influence of certain religions in those latter regions is an important factor, said Ron Lesthaeghe, a Belgian demographer who is a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. "Evangelical Protestantism and Mormons," he said.

    ___

    On the Net:

    CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs

    Population Reference Bureau: http://www.prb.org

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_ ... by_boomlet
    <div>"The making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land."**
    -James Baldwin, American Writer</div>

  2. #2
    Administrator ALIPAC's Avatar
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    The statistical proof is in. Illegals are having babies for political and economic gain in America. We already knew, but now it is nailed in as statistical fact by the CDC.

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  3. #3
    Senior Member ourcountrynottheirs's Avatar
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    That's a lot of anchors.
    avatar:*912 March in DC

  4. #4
    Administrator ALIPAC's Avatar
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    At 1.9 children per female, white Americans are still on an EXTINCTION rate. The white population is shrinking at these rates while all other ethnic populations are expanding.

    W
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5
    Senior Member Paige's Avatar
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    It is time to send anchor babies home with their parents. This is why the push for Universal Health Care. We can't support these people.
    <div>''Life's tough......it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
    -- John Wayne</div>

  6. #6
    Senior Member Bowman's Avatar
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    Re: Against the trend, U.S. births way up

    Quote Originally Posted by rainbow13
    Fertility rates were also relatively high for other racial and ethnic groups. The rate rose to 2.1 for blacks and nearly 1.9 for non-Hispanic whites in 2006, according to the CDC.
    This exposes how much the US Chamber is lying when then claim "the size of the US workforce is declining because Americans are not having enough children". Actually Americans are having a replacement number of children!

    They are flat out lying so they can drive down wages.

    Incidentally, I wonder how they categorize children born to mixed race couples? Would that be "other"?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Senior Member Bowman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ALIPAC
    At 1.9 children per female, white Americans are still on an extension rate. The white population is shrinking at these rates while all other ethnic populations are expanding.
    W you have to remember that Americans are also living longer. Thus even with a 1.9 birthrate there are more white Americans than ever, they are not going extinct. Now if both the life expectancy and birthrate dropped then it would be a worry.
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  8. #8
    Senior Member Bowman's Avatar
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    Re: Against the trend, U.S. births way up

    Quote Originally Posted by rainbow13

    Fertility rates often rise among immigrants who leave their homelands for a better life. For example, the rate among Mexican-born women in the U.S. is 3.2, but the overall rate for Mexico is just 2.4, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based research organization. "They're more optimistic about their future here," said Jeff Passel, a Pew
    After the 1986 amnesty the birth rate for Latino "immigrants" in California jumped from 4 to 5 children. The same thing would happen with another amnesty.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  9. #9
    Senior Member cayla99's Avatar
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    I did my part, I had three American children

    The numbers are indefinitely higher here because they are anchor babies. The anchor baby provision must be addressed, it is not in our best interest to have a baby making war. It might be fun, but the consequences could cost us in the end. I say put an end to automatic citizenship today.
    Proud American and wife of a wonderful LEGAL immigrant from Ireland.
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." -Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  10. #10
    Senior Member Lynne's Avatar
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    Hispanic births reach 50% at UNC Hospitals in North Carolina
    Jan 2, 2008

    CHAPEL HILL — By On the fifth floor of the N.C. Women’s Hospital, high above the streets of Chapel Hill, is a window on the state’s future.

    Behind a thick pane of glass — inside the nursery of the maternity ward — sleep tomorrow’s Tar Heels, wrapped in blankets and tucked safely in plastic bassinets.

    And, on most days, about half of these babies are Hispanic.

    North Carolina has undergone brisk demographic change in recent years. From 1990 to 2006, the Hispanic population increased from 76,726 to 597,382, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanic enrollment in public schools jumped by more than 1,000 percent in that time.

    But maternity wards across the state have seen some of the most dramatic changes. Hispanic births have increased 11 times over since 1990. Last year, one of every six babies born in North Carolina was Hispanic.

    Women’s Hospital in Chapel Hill has been an epicenter of this baby boom. With a well-developed system of obstetrical clinics in the region, the hospital absorbs births from neighboring counties with sizeable Hispanic populations. Official figures from 2005 show 37.4 percent of babies born at the hospital were Hispanic.

    “It’s actually more around 50 percent these days,â€

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