Total fertility rate for U.S. 16 percent less than number needed to replace population
THURSDAY, Jan. 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) — There is considerable state-level variation in total fertility rates for each race and Hispanic-origin group, according to a study published Jan. 10 in National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
T.J. Matthews and Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, present total fertility rates for 2017 using data from birth certificates of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Total fertility rates (the expected number of lifetime births per 1,000 women given current birth rates by age) were examined by state for non-Hispanic single-race white, non-Hispanic single-race black, and Hispanic women.
The researchers found that for each race and Hispanic-origin group, total fertility rates varied by state. Of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, South Dakota had the highest total fertility rate (2,227.5) in 2017 and the District of Columbia had the lowest (1,421). For non-Hispanic white women, the highest and lowest total fertility rates were in Utah and the District of Columbia (2,099.5 and 1,012, respectively). For non-Hispanic black women, the highest total fertility rate was in Maine (4,003.5), while the lowest rate was seen in Wyoming (1,146). The highest total fertility rate for Hispanic women was in Alabama (3,085) and the lowest was in Vermont and Maine (1,200.5 and 1,281.5, respectively).
“The 2017 total fertility rate for the United States of 1,765.5 was 16 percent below what is considered the level for a population to replace itself (2,100.0),” the authors write.
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