Arizona experienced a 20 percent drop in the number of births between 2007 and 2017.
Arizona went from 103,000 births in 2007 to near 81,000 in 2017 which is the largest decline in a 10-year period in the U.S., according to recent CDC data.
The number of kids an average woman in the United States will have in her lifetime has also declined from 2.12 to 1.76.
So what is causing the decline?
1. Recession
Economic insecurity is still being felt a decade later. Resources like stable housing and money for child care is still causing some families to think twice about having children.
2. Sex education
Sex education has improved in school systems along with the availability of birth control.
In 2000, nearly 12,000 babies were born to teens a year in Arizona. By 2016, that number had dropped to 6,000 babies a year.
3. Immigration enforcement
Strict laws in Arizona have delayed women of child-bearing age from crossing the border and starting families.
If the decline continues, this could impact the baby boomer generation by disrupting Social Security and Medicare because of a shrinking workforce.
The impacts aren’t felt now but could be felt within the next 20 years.