CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Remember that baby boom we were supposed to see nine months after the pandemic started? It turns out it was a baby bust, with national birth rates down across the country.
According to UNC's "Carolina Demography," you can see the birth rate in North Carolina is dropping. It's down 3.1% in 2019.
THE QUESTION:
What's the reason behind the birth rate decline?
OUR SOURCES
- Matthew Zajechowski, Content strategist that conducted a study with Harmony Healthcare IT
- Carolina Demography, data gathered by the University of North Carolina Chapel hill
THE ANSWER:
According to the study by Harmony Healthcare IT, financial reasons were the main reason why families decided to not have children.
WHAT WE FOUND:
According to Carolina Demography in North Carolina, there were 3,622 fewer births in 2020 compared to 2019. That is in line with what's happening nationwide with the national birth rate down nearly 4% according to the U.S. Census.
"We are definitely seeing more of a baby bust than a baby boom," Zajechowski said.
A study by Harmony Healthcare IT looked at what's behind the decline and found the number one reason why women in America don't plan on having children right now boils down to money.
"Financial reasons were the top reasons, so we started the survey by asking whether or not they were planning to have children, and 51% said yes, 31% said no, and 17% said that they weren't sure," Zajechowski said.
Of the women surveyed 44% said the "cost" was the main reason they don't plan to have children. 38% said they were focusing on their career and 32% said adding a kid would have too big of an impact on their lifestyle.
"I think a lot of people last year, especially that was a big thing I think a lot of it was uncertainty not to know what the job market was going to look like," Zajechowski said.
Because of the pandemic, people were also laid off and many are just now heading back to work. An interesting finding from that study is that women feel the most pressure to have a baby from family, friends having babies and social media.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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