Children Represent a Declining Proportion of CA Population
2020 Census Alerts California to Senior Needs
The CA Fertility Rate declined by twice the US Rate, while Seniors are a fast-increasing age group in the State.
Birth rates have steadily fallen in California since the aftermath of World War II, when the baby boom first sent the state’s population soaring. According to state data, births have declined by more than 15 percent in the past decade.
But California’s baby bust since the last census has also been more acute than in the rest of the country. Take the fertility rate, which demographers typically define as births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Nationally, that rate fell from 64.1 in 2010 to 58.3 in 2019 — a loss of 5.8 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. In California, however, the decline was 11.7 births. By comparison, the fertility rate in Florida dropped by fewer than four births.
Older adults have outpaced growth in children or working-age adults to become the state’s fastest-growing age group. The state projects that by 2030, more than nine million Californians will be over 65. New York Times
Read April 26, 2021 NYT article here
