U.S. Fertility Rate Fell to Record Low in 2020, by Zachary Evans

The U.S. fertility rate fell to a record low in 2020, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.

The total fertility rate, or the number of babies a woman is projected to have during her lifetime, fell to 1.64 in 2020, the lowest since tracking began in the 1930s. The total number of births was about 3.6 million, the lowest since 1979.

Births declined in December 2020 by 8 percent compared with the same month in 2019, the largest drop of any month. Because babies born towards the end of the year were conceived in March and April, the decline could reflect the results of the coronavirus pandemic arriving in the U.S. …