Steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births, according to a new government report released Wednesday.
U.S. births fell for the fourth year in a row, with experts calling it more proof that the weak economy has continued to dampen enthusiasm for having children.
Hispanics have been disproportionately affected by the flagging economy, experts say, and teen birth rates have been falling for 20 years.
But there may be a silver lining: The decline in 2011 was just 1 percent — not as sharp a fall-off as the 2 to 3 percent drop seen in other recent years.
"It may be that the effect of the recession is slowly coming to an end," said Carl Haub, a senior demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization. READ MORE
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