U.S. birth rates slide as Millennials enter the age of marriage and childbearing

[Mr. Morden]

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Interesting east-west divide.  Isn't there also an east-west divide in the male-to-female ratio, with the eastern US tilting female, and the western US tilting male?  Is there some relationship between that and the birth rate?  Which also begs the question: Is the birth rate defined as the number of babies born per year per person, or per woman, or per woman within a certain age range, or what?

[Beet]

Interesting. Colorado, which is one of the most heavily educated states in the country, and at one point had one of the richest counties in the country, is an outlier in the West.

[King]

Interesting. Colorado, which is one of the most heavily educated states in the country, and at one point had one of the richest counties in the country, is an outlier in the West.

Denver is becoming what San Francisco/Los Angeles/New York were in the last century. All the idealistic youngsters in the plains looking for a life in the big city are hopping on the Greyhound there now. Those kind of movers I imagine are not interested in starting families, as opposed to a young person who has decided to spend their adult lives in birthplace Wyoming.

[Ban my account ffs!]

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Interesting east-west divide.  Isn't there also an east-west divide in the male-to-female ratio, with the eastern US tilting female, and the western US tilting male?  Is there some relationship between that and the birth rate?  Which also begs the question: Is the birth rate defined as the number of babies born per year per person, or per woman, or per woman within a certain age range, or what?

The east has had lower birthrates since forever and feautures an older population.  This tilts it towards older women since women live longer.

Utah probably has the highest ratio of males to females since it has the highest birth rates.

[The Mikado]

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Florida stands out to me, especially given that it's a state with a very high immigrant population who one would assume would be more fertile than the national average.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Lots of retirees in Florida not having children.

[Mr. Morden]

Incidentally, from a quick Google search, here's a table of the male-to-female ratio by state, which also lists the age breakdown by state:

http://names.mongabay.com/data/2010-male-to-female-sex-ratio-state.html

I'm too lazy to make my own map out of that, but I'm sure there are some correlations with the birth rate map.

[muon2]

Here's Morden's map. The national average is 96.7 males per 100 females. The colors show the steps away from that average in increments of 1 male per 100 females. For example AL at 94.33 is 50% red (female) being more than 2 below the national average.

[publicunofficial]

Interesting. Colorado, which is one of the most heavily educated states in the country, and at one point had one of the richest counties in the country, is an outlier in the West.

Denver is becoming what San Francisco/Los Angeles/New York were in the last century. All the idealistic youngsters in the plains looking for a life in the big city are hopping on the Greyhound there now. Those kind of movers I imagine are not interested in starting families, as opposed to a young person who has decided to spend their adult lives in birthplace Wyoming.

I think Seattle/Portland attracts a similar set of people. Young upstarts who don't want to start families in their 20's, either because they don't feel the societal pressure or they view it as a bad financial decision (Wait to have kids when you 33 and more secure)

[Famous Mortimer]

Population decline itself is not a problem.

The specific nature of our population decline is. It's happening disproportionately among the college educated.

People who can't afford to have children (which includes rural Whites as well as minorities) continue to have children at above replacement rate.

If births were going down among all groups, it wouldn't be a problem.

As it stands, we're looking at the next generation being even more impoverished than the current one.

[Famous Mortimer]

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Alabama and the Carolinas are quite surprising. More so than Colorado. What's going on there?