On Thursday, I wrote that the fertility rate, measured as lifetime number of births per woman (TFR) is now just a hair above its historic low. Demographers don't know what's going on, because it's not following the expected pattern of recovering from a recession-induced dip, and there's uncertainty as to whether this is really a matter of deferred childbirth, "lost" children from this particular cohort, or a long-term change in the birth rate. At the same time, it's a trivial but nonetheless true statement that we simply don't know what will happen when these women reach the end of their childbearing years. Back in January, Pew reported that among women who are now ages 40 -44, the percent who remain childless has declined, and average number of lifetime births has ticked upward. (Note that the gap after 2012 was due to changes in methodology so direct comparisons cannot be made.)

Source: Forbes May 19, 2018 17:37 UTC