US Birth Rate Increases For The First Time In 7 Years! How Did It Happen?

The United States birth rate has increased in 2014—the first time since 2007.

In the National Center for Health Statistics report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were nearly 63 births for over a thousand women between ages 15 to 44.

The report shows a 1 percent increase since the beginning of the recession in 2007. This means that about 4 million babies were born last year, 53,000 more than in 2013.

The statistics also show that the birth rates have increased in all ethnicities except among Native Americans. There has been an increase for birth rates in women in their 30s and early 40s, while women who gave birth in their 20s remain steady.

The most interesting to note is that pregnancy in U.S. teens aged 15 to 19 has decreased. It is considered to be at its lowest at 9 percent, only nearly 25 births per 1000 women.

"The births to older women was enough to offset the decline in teen birth rate and you see this overall increase," Brady E. Hamilton, lead author and statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics, told CNN. "In regards to the older women, this is kind of a continuation of a trend, but the decline in teens 15 to 19 really shocked me; 9% is really phenomenal."

The decline in pregnancies among the youth could be due to a lot of things, according to Laura Lindberg, research scientists at the Guttmacher Institute. She explains that teens may have better access to sex education programs and contraception. The internet could also be a major factor in educating younger people about fertility as well.

Carl Haub, demographer for Population Reference Bureau, told USA Today that the increase could be a sign that the US economy is on its way to improving.

"The recession is ending - we think it's ending - for some people, so we might attribute a rise in the birthrate," Haub said. He believes that economic recession is to be blamed for the low birthrate in the past few years.

According to Lindberg, as people get more stable, they feel like having a baby because of the security of consistent paychecks.

"I think as people feel their paycheck is more stable, it feels like a safe environment to have a child in," Lindberg said.

The U.S. recession has contributed to a lot of social problems. During that time, there was an influx of child abuse and suicide cases.