US Births Hit Record High

2007 beats baby boom's biggest year; teen pregnancies rise for second year
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2009 1:56 PM CDT
US Births Hit Record High
4.31 million babies were born in the US in 2007, a record high.   (Shutterstock)

A record 4.31 million babies were born in the US in 2007, USA Today reports, topping the 4.30 million born in 1957, the height of the “baby boom”—although that year remains impressive because the overall population of the US was much smaller. Unmarried women bore 1.7 million children—40% of US births—in 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available.

The number of teen pregnancies also rose for the second consecutive year, increasing 1.4% from 2006, a year that saw a 3.4% rise after a 14-year decline in the phenomenon. “It’s a huge disappointment and a huge failure in public policy to see this reverse itself,” said a Columbia professor of public health. (More teen pregnancy stories.)

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