Will the Pandemic Cause a Baby Boom or Bust?
Published in
Dec 16, 2020
Data during the pandemic suggests there might be a decline in birth rates. As Juno DeMelo reports for Elemental, it wouldn’t be the first time a public health scare caused a drop in births.
According to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, birth rates fell by 10% in the nine to 10 months following the peak in deaths caused by the Spanish flu of 1918. Weak economic conditions have also driven declines; the Great Recession led to a 9% drop in births between 2007 and 2012.
Whether that happens in the United States remains to be seen, especially with vaccines beginning to roll out. Read more below.
