Couples Rattled by Recession Delay Kids

(NEWSER) - Families appear to be putting off that baby until economic conditions improve, the New York Times reports. The birth rate fell 2% in 2008 compared to 2007, and the trend looks to be continuing into 2009. “It’s the recession," a sociologist says. "Children are the most expensive item in every family’s budget, so it’s a good place to cut back when you’re uncertain about the future.” More»

More adult children are moving in with parents

(NEWSER) - A bleak job market and skyrocketing rents have college grads—even working adults—boomeranging back to their childhood homes, something that's fast losing its social stigma, the Boston Globe reports. About half of adults ages 18 and 24 live with their parents. More»

Couples get day off nine months before country's national day

(NEWSER) - The Ulyanovsk region of Russia will give its citizens a day off to procreate—nine months before Russia's national day of June 12; couples whose children are born on that day can even win prizes. The Russian population has been dropping since the early 90s, and President Putin has called the demographic crisis Russia's biggest challenge. More»

Blame exposure to testosterone

(NEWSER) - Female twins with twin brothers are less likely to marry and have kids than those with twin sisters, a new study shows, and those who do reproduce have fewer children. Elevated exposure to testosterone in utero appears to be the culprit, say British scientists who reached back over two centuries to find records unaffected by modern health care. More»

Increased infertility treatments and older moms behind the rise

(NEWSER) - The number of twins has surged in the past 30 years, according to a new government study. The twin birth rate went from 189 out of 10,000 births (or 1 out of 53) in 1980 to 333 out of 10,000 births (or 1 out of 30) in 2009—a spike of 76%, reports MSNBC's Vitals blog . What's behind it? Experts point to an increased use of infertility treatments and to the growing number of women giving birth at a later age. More»