The declining fertility rates in the United States have been laid bare in an interactive map from DailyMail.com.
The number of births in America has been declining for years and has fallen 22 percent nationwide since 2007, data shows. The downward trend is prompting warnings that the US is now on an irreversible path of economic decline.
In 2007, the national birth rate was 14.3 births per 1,000 inhabitants. By 2022, the last year of data, this had fallen to just 11.1 per 1,000 residents.
The dramatic decline in births and a growing aging population could, experts say, force a rise in taxes to cover programs like Medicare and Social Security, leaving less disposable income available to boost spending.
Elon Musk has previously warned that decline is now the ‘greatest threat to civilization’, while experts warn it will have a ‘damaging impact’ on society.
The map above shows the percentage change in birth rate by state, from lowest in North Dakota to highest in Utah. Despite the decline, Utah still has the highest birth rate in the entire country
Fertility in the US has fallen sharply in recent decades (above). The average American woman now has just 1.6 children over her lifetime, well below the replacement level of 2.1
The number of American women with at least one child fell to 52.1 percent, while the number of men fell to 39.7 percent in 2019
Across the country, Utah recorded the largest decline in the birth rate over a 15-year period, at 36.2 percent, from 21.2 births per 1,000 people in 2007 to 13.5 births – a decline associated with the Mormon Church’s contraception is increasingly accepted.
Neighboring Arizona recorded almost the same large decline: a 36.1 percent drop from 16.7 births per 1,000 people to 10.7 births over the same period.
Nearby Nevada had the third largest decline – down 34 percent – followed by New Mexico – down 33.5 percent – and California – down 31.3 percent.
No state saw an increase in its birth rate between 2007 and 2022.
But the decline was smallest in North Dakota, with the rate falling 9.3 percent from 13.5 births per 1,000 people to 12.3.
However, the state was a national outlier, with the next four states experiencing the smallest declines – Iowa, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kentucky – all registration declines are between 16 and 17 percent.
Experts say the American work ethic, which helped the United States become an economic superpower, may now be causing a worrying decline in the birth rate.
They warn that because people value careers over families, the country is heading for an inevitable decline.
Dr. Melissa Kearney, professor of economics at the University of Maryland, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘There has been more emphasis on spending time building careers. Adults are changing their attitudes towards having children.
“They choose to spend money and time in different ways… (which) conflict with parenting.”
There are also signs that the ‘Instagram generation’ of millennials and baby boomers are now prioritizing travel and relaxation over building families.
As a result, people are waiting longer to have children than in previous generations, with older women likely to have fewer children. A number of women also become pregnant through fertility treatment, increasing the number of mothers over forty.
The higher cost of living and the rising cost of childcare are also attributed.
Dr. Phillip Levine, an economist at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, previously warned that the decline would ultimately have “a detrimental impact on both social cohesion and overall well-being.”
Census data already indicates that, without migration, the U.S. population will begin to decline by 2035 — unprecedented in the country’s 250-year history.