European countries that regulate and subsidize I.V.F. have birth rates comparable with ours, but only 5percentt of those births result in twins.
Never before -- except in times of plague, war and deep economic depression -- have birth rates fallen so low, for so long.
This is in staggering contrast to countries such as Korea, Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden, which all have birth rates of fewer than seven per 1,000 teenagers.
The replacement rate the reproduction rate that keeps a population stable for developed countries is 2.1, yet nearly half the worlds population has birth rates lower than that.
In the 1970s, only 24 countries had birth rates of 2.1 or less.
Prior to undergoing the transition, few of the now-developed countries had birth rates and death rates as high as those of most African countries over the last 60 years and currently for several countries.
Hispanics, both foreign and U.S.-born, had big birth-rate declines, reflecting exceptionally high unemployment and wealth losses from the recession, Pew says.
Jewish women ages 40 to 44 have a birth rate of 1.8 children, compared with the 2.1 children needed to replace the current population, it said.
Holland is unusual among developed countries in having a home-birth rate of 30%.
As Caldwell did not, let me summarize my message: Not one Western nation has a birth rate to enable it to survive in its present form through midcentury.
