The number of births in the United States decreased by 3% between 2008 and 2009 to 4,130,665 births. The general fertility rate also declined 3% to 66.7 per 1000 women. The teenage birth rate fell 6% to 39.1 per 1000. Birth rates also declined for women 20 to 39 years and for all 5-year groups, but the rate for women 40 to 44 years continued to rise. The percentage of all births to unmarried women increased to 41.0% in 2009, up from 40.6% in 2008. In 2009, 32.9% of all births occurred by cesarean delivery, continuing its rise. The 2009 preterm birth rate declined for the third year in a row to 12.18%. The low-birth-weight rate was unchanged in 2009 at 8.16%. Both twin and triplet and higher order birth rates increased. The infant mortality rate was 6.42 infant deaths per 1000 live births in 2009. The rate is significantly lower than the rate of 6.61 in 2008. Linked birth and infant death data from 2007 showed that non-Hispanic black infants continued to have much higher mortality rates than non-Hispanic white and Hispanic infants. Life expectancy at birth was 78.2 years in 2009. Crude death rates for children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 years decreased by 6.5% between 2008 and 2009. Unintentional injuries and homicide, the first and second leading causes of death jointly accounted for 48.6% of all deaths to children and adolescents in 2009.

OBJECTIVE: This report analyzes the patterns of childlessness, and conversely, the first-birth patterns of three birth cohorts of American women. For this report, a cohort refers to women born in the same year. The cohorts compared were women born in 1910, 1935, and 1960 -- who, consequently, turned 25 during the Great Depression, the Baby Boom, and lastly, the post-Baby Boom period. The purpose of the report is to explore the differences in fertility characteristics of these three generations of women and to consider those differences in light of the social and economic conditions at the time. METHODS: Life table methodology, including the probability of having a first birth, the number of women remaining childless, and the expected number of years to remain childless, was applied to each of the three birth cohorts for comparison. Techniques extended from life table functions were also used and included measures of first-birth concentration as well as comparisons between childlessness and the total fertility rate (TFR). Data were based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics tables on cohort fertility. RESULTS: Of the three birth cohorts studied, the women born in 1910 had the highest proportion childless and a low TFR. In contrast, the women born in 1935 had both the lowest proportion childless and the highest TFR. The fertility of women who were born in 1960 is characterized as intermediate to the other cohorts in terms of childlessness, but is distinct with both lowest levels of childbearing and oldest ages of first births. First-time childbearing is more concentrated (that is, least spread out) by age of mother for the 1910 and 1935 cohorts than the 1960 cohort. Finally, data for all U.S. birth cohorts 1910-1960 suggest that the greater the proportion childless in a cohort, the lower the TFR.

Each year a generation of women is born who will share similar sociohistorical experiences before and throughout their reproductive lives. These unique experiences can produce similar childbearing patterns in terms of the average number of children ever born -- whether mothers are younger or older when their first birth occurs and the proportion of women who do not have children -- that can differ from the patterns found for other cohorts. Childbearing patterns have profound consequences for society. These consequences include the demand for schools and housing, as well as women’s participation in the labor force. Moreover, the lives of women who become mothers are significantly different from those who do not. Having children affects the acquisition of material goods and may impose costs for the mother in terms of personal and professional options. This report presents data on three selected birth cohorts of women representing generations born at 25-year intervals in 1910, 1935, and 1960, close to the average length of a generation in the United States. Data are from the cohort fertility tables, based on the National Vital Statistics System.