Tag: Mothers

Mother’s Day Reflections

- Alexis 4 Comments

As I write this on the evening of Mother’s Day 2021, I sit perched on a barstool overlooking my messy kitchen and cluttered family room. I am tired but mostly content. I was determined to spend the day enjoying time with my family rather than tidying up and doing laundry or yardwork or the other chores that tend to fill my weekends. I slept in this morning, which was lovely, although it would probably take a solid year of late mornings to put a dent in the sleep deficit I’ve accumulated over the past few years.

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Understanding the Declining U.S. Fertility Rate

- Alexis Leave a comment

Photo of a mobile over a crib

A few days ago, data was released showing that the fertility rate in the United States – the number of babies born per 1,000 women of childbearing age – hit a record low in 2017, for the second year in a row.  The fertility rate has been declining every year since 2008, and the 3% drop from 2016 to 2017 is the largest single-year decrease since 2010.  The New York Times published an article about the phenomenon in Thursday’s paper with the headline “Fertility Rate Again Falls to a Record Low, Confounding Demographers.”  It seems no one can figure out why women between the ages of 15 and 44 aren’t having as many kids as they once did.  As a 33-year-old woman who conceived my first child in 2017, perhaps I can shed some light on the topic. Read more