Where have all the children gone? Birth rates are down, not just in Fiorella's crowd, but all over the nation. The economy may have something to do with it, but Fio thinks the phenomenon has more to do with the change in social and sexual mores. Birth control has given modern women control over their futures, and increasingly, they choose to remain childless. To round out the picture, men of this generation are clinging to their adolescence later than their fathers and grandfathers did.
So much for the zero population growth movement. Guess we don't need them after all. We're doing the job all too well on our own.
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The fertility trends in the United States mirror global trends. Jonathan Last pointed out that our fertility rates have been falling ever since our Founding. From an average of over 7 children per female in the late 18th Century to a nadir of less than 2.1 during the Great Depression, it was only the period 1945-1965 did our TFR's actually increase. During the Baby Boom years the TFR reached a peak in 1960 (3.6 children per female). But by 1980 our TFR sank to 1.8 . It currently stands at just over 2.0 (2.06) thanks in large part to immigration (both legal and illegal).
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