More women in their 40s are not having children in the USA. Those who are starting a family are having fewer children than before, so says the U.S. Census Bureau.
The last three decades have seen the number of women aged 40-44 with no children doubling, from 10% to 20%. Mothers have on average 1.9 children each, which is a child fewer than women of a smiliar age in 1976.
This report considers the fertility of American Women . It is an annual survey of women, aged 15 to 50. About 4.2m women took part in the last research. The statistics are then utilised by state agencies to ensure proper provision of maternal care services, the report said.
Out of all educational levels, women who were graduates or held professional degrees had most births, with 36% having given birth in the previous 12 months.
Unemployed women had nearly twice as many babies as working women. A quarter of all women who had given birth over the last year were living below the poverty level.
This report also highlighted long term trends, including the fact that second-generation Hispanic women are having fewer babies than their grandmothers and mothers.
New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Texas, California, Illinois and Arizona had more foreign-born women who gave birth. A greater percentage of women in the Southeast and Southwest who gave birth in the 12 months preceding the survey did so in poverty.
