WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010

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POLITICS THE NATION

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Nation’s overall birthrate falls 2 percent

CONGRESS

Researchers say data support link to poor economy

by Rob Stein

After rising to its highest point

in two decades, the rate at which women in the United States gave birth declined in 2008 as the economy deteriorated, according to government statistics released Tuesday. The nation’s overall birthrate fell 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, when about 4.2 million babies were born. The dip pushed the fertility rate below 2.1 per wom- an, meaning Americans were no longer giving birth to enough children to keep the population from declining. There were 41.5 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19 in 2008, a 2 percent drop from the previ- ous year. After a two-year in- crease in teen births prompted concern that one of the nation’s most successful social and public health efforts was faltering, 2008 marked the return of a decline in which the rate fell 34 percent over many years. “This is good news,” said Steph-

anie J. Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the annual pre- liminary analysis of birth certif- icate data. “It might come as a surprise because people were concerned the teen birthrate was on a different course.” Ventura was among those who said it was too early to know whether the teen births trend would continue in 2009. But she speculated that it might because it was part of the broader drop in the birthrate for women of all ages — except those 40 and older — and that appears to have con- tinued at least another year. The reason for the drop in teen

births remained unclear. Experts offered several possible explana- tions, including the poor econo- my. The notion of a link between

Teen births drop

The birth rate for teenagers in the United States has dropped after a two-year increase, according to government statistics released Tuesday.

U.S. teen birth rates by age

Per 1,000 in each age group

100 80 60 40 20 0

* from 2007 NOTE: 2007 and 2008 figures are preliminary.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics

THE WASHINGTON POST

the drop in births and the econo- my was supported by an analysis of data from 25 states, including Maryland and Virginia, that was released Tuesday by the Pew Re- search Center to coincide with the new government report. For example, Arizona’s birth-

rate declined more than 4 per- cent in 2008 compared with the previous year, the largest drop among the 25 states. Its decline in per capita income in 2007 ranked second and its housing-price change ranked sixth. North Dakota was one of only

five states that had a gain in its fertility rate. That state’s growth in per capita income was the larg- est, and its 2007 foreclosure rate was the second lowest. In an October survey by the

center, 14 percent of Americans ages 18 to 34 and 8 percent of those ages 35 to 44 said they post- poned having a child because of the recession. The youngest

18-19 years

2008: 70.7, down 4%*

15-17 years

2008: 21.7, down 2%*

women were the most likely to say they had postponed having children. That same survey found that women with low incomes were particularly likely to report post- poning having a child. Nine per- cent of those earning less than $25,000 annually postponed hav- ing a child, while only 2 percent of those earning more than $75,000 did so. “Certainly younger folks have

the ‘luxury’ of delaying their childbearing in an attempt to hold out for better economic con- ditions, while older people may feel the press of the biological clock prevents too much of a de- lay,” said Gretchen Livingston, a senior researcher at Pew. While some experts questioned

whether the drop in teen preg- nancies was related to the econo- my, the decline was hailed by ad- vocates across the ideological spectrum.

’80 ’85 ’90 ’95 ’00 ’05

“If there had been a third year of increase in the rate, the two- year ‘uptick’ in teen births would have become a troubling trend,” said Sarah S. Brown of the Na- tional Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies. Others cautioned that the numbers might not prove that the decline in teen births has re- sumed.

“I think it is hard to make any

pattern out of the last three years, other than to say that we are no longer making steady progress,” said John Santelli of Columbia University. “The trend from 1991 to 2005 was steadily downward. We now seem to be stuck.” The rate dropped most sharply, by 4 percent, for 18- and 19-year- olds. The rate had increased 6 percent between 2005 and 2007 for this group, halting a 26 per- cent decline between 1991 and 2005. The rate fell 2 percent for ages 15 to 17. The rate for this age group had increased 4 percent between 2005 and 2007, inter- rupting a 45 percent decrease be- tween 1991 and 2005. The rate among girls 10 to 14 remained un- changed. The rate fell among all races

and ethnicities, but hit a historic low for Hispanics. The report comes as President Obama is launching a $110 mil- lion teen pregnancy prevention program that is being closely watched to see whether it in- cludes funding for programs that focus on encouraging abstinence until marriage. Such programs received $150 million a year un- der George W. Bush’s administra- tion.

Advocates on both sides expect the program to eliminate most of that funding.

But $25 million in Obama’s ini-

tiative was set aside for experi- mental approaches, which could include some abstinence pro- grams. And the new health-care legislation includes $50 million a year for five years for abstinence programs. “The downward trend is en-

couraging and gives us reason to believe that the 2006-07 slight uptick in teen births may have been a hiccup, rather than the start of a troubling new trend,” said Valerie Huber of the Nation- al Abstinence Education Associa- tion. “It is a shame that abstinence

education opponents too early use any statistics to denigrate an approach that offers teens the best skills to avoid all the conse- quences of sex, including teen pregnancy,” Huber said.

But opponents of abstinence funding urged caution. “We don’t yet know whether

the new data for 2008 showing a decline constitutes a blip or a trend,” said James Wagoner of Advocates for Youth, a Washing- ton-based group. “What we do know is that the federal govern- ment is about to launch one of the largest teen pregnancy pre- vention efforts in decades, and if we are to ensure that this decline continues, it is critical that feder- al funds go only to the programs that work. The fact that Demo- crats included nearly a quarter- billion [dollars] of failed absti- nence-only-until-marriage pro- grams in health-care reform is alarming.”

Arrest follows threat to kill Wash. senator

Sen. Patty Murray

A Washington state man has been charged with threatening to kill Democratic Sen. Patty Murray over her support for health-care reform. Federal agents arrested Charles Alan Wilson in Yakima, Wash., on Tuesday, after he allegedly left voice-mail mes- sages at her office saying she had a target on her back and “it only takes one piece of lead.” Murray’s office in Seattle reported

the threats amid a rash of ugliness aimed at lawmakers who support- ed the sweeping federal health- care legislation. Some lawmakers have been spit on and several have reported receiving threat- ening calls. FBI agents said they traced the calls to Wilson’s home in Selah, near Yakima, Special Agent Caro- lyn W. Woodbury wrote in a prob- able-cause statement. Wilson al- legedly confirmed that he repeat- edly called Murray as well as Washington’s other Democratic senator, Maria Cantwell. “Now that you’ve passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin,” said one message left on March 22.

Wilson has a .38-caliber revolv- er registered to him and has a concealed carry permit for it, Woodbury wrote.

Wilson was scheduled to make an appearance in federal court in Yakima on Tuesday on one count of threatening a federal official. It was not immediately clear if he had obtained a lawyer. Murray’s office declined to comment on the arrest.

—Associated Press

Cantor case suspect found incompetent

A Philadelphia man charged with threatening Rep. Eric Cantor

DIGEST

in an Internet video has multiple personalities and is not currently competent to stand trial, prosecu- tors said Tuesday. A federal magistrate is sending

38-year-old Norman Leboon to a prison hospital in North Carolina for psychiatric testing. Leboon could later be found competent to stand trial, the magistrate added. Leboon allegedly made a video last month threatening Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Repub- lican.

—Associated Press

MASSACHUSETTS

Three teens plead not guilty in bullying

Three Massachusetts teenagers pleaded not guilty through their lawyers Tuesday in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after what prosecutors call months of threats and harass- ment.

Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Na-

rey, both 17 and from South Had- ley, and 18-year-old Austin Re- naud, of Springfield, will remain free on personal recognizance on the condition that they stay away from the family of Phoebe Prince, the girl who died. Mulveyhill and Renaud are

charged with statutory rape. Mul- veyhill and Narey are also charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and distur- bance of a school assembly. They are among nine teens

charged in what prosecutors said was the “unrelenting” bullying of Prince, who hanged herself Jan. 14. Prince, who had emigrated from Ireland last summer, was a freshman at South Hadley High School. Three other teens are scheduled to be arraigned Thurs- day in juvenile court. Renaud’s lawyer, Terrence Dun-

phy, would not comment on the relationship between Prince and Renaud or the statutory rape charge against him. A pretrial hearing for Mulvey-

hill, Narey and Renaud was scheduled for Sept. 15.

—Associated Press

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