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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: birth rate

birth rate stories: 18 news summaries

 Elephants on Verge 
 of Extinction 

Illegal hunting could kill off African population in 15 years

Oct 19, 09 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Within 15 years, African elephants could be extinct as a consequence of rampant ivory poaching, conservation experts say. Africa's elephant population numbers just 600,000, and that number appears to be dwindling by about 38,000 a year. That’s faster than the birth rate. One animal welfare group is... More »

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endangered species • Africa • ivory • poaching • birth rate • elephant • poachers

 10% of Babies Are Premature, 
 Taxing World's Health System 

Of 13 million preemies, 1 million die before surviving 1 month

Oct 4, 09 5:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nearly 10% of babies born each year worldwide arrive prematurely, and the stress of caring for them "is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies," the March of Dimes said today. Some 13 million babies are preemies, and more than 1... More »

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Africa • Asia • United States • public health • birth rate • preemies • North America • March of Dimes • premature birth • premature baby • preterm birth rate

(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... More »

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pregnancy • children • baby • recession • birth rate • Great Depression • household expenses • economic downturn

(Newser) - The devastation is still raw from the earthquake that snuffed out thousands of young lives in rural China a year ago, reports the Los Angeles Times, but many grieving parents have found new hope in the form of another baby. More than 10% of new mothers in one Sichuan Province... More »

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China • birth control • birth rate • population control • Sichuan province • China earthquake • one-child policy

 Fewer Sons Born Close to Sun 

New study finds more girls born closer to equator

Apr 1, 09 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Women who live near the equator are more likely to give birth to baby girls than boys, the Independent reports. A new study has found a small but significant shift in gender ratios depending on latitude, with males comprising 51.1% of tropical births; the global sex ratio is 51.... More »

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gender • study • birth rate • sex ratio • Latitude

(Newser) - A little divine intervention has apparently helped a city in the nation of Georgia give its population a boost. Two years ago, faced with a stagnant birth rate, the head of Georgia’s Orthodox Church pledged to personally baptize any child born to parents with more than two other kids.... More »

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Europe • Georgia • Orthodox Christianity • birth rate • baptism • Patriarch Ilia II • Howard Stern Grid

US Births Hit Record High

2007 beats baby boom's biggest year; teen pregnancies rise for second year

Mar 18, 09 1:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - A record 4.31 million babies were born in the US in 2007, USA Today reports, topping the 4.30 million born in 1957, the height of the “baby boom”—although that year remains impressive because the overall population of the US was much smaller. Unmarried women bore... More »

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United States • birth rate • infant • birth • baby boom • teen births • teen pregnancy

 Couples Rattled 
 by Recession 
 Delay Kids 

Babyies too expensive in shrinking economy

Dec 10, 08 3:02 PM CST
(Newser) - Baby booms and busts have long been reliable economic indicators, so it's no surprise that couples facing layoffs and a tough housing market are holding off on pregnancies. Pricey fertility clinics are the first to feel couples' hesitation to reproduce. The magnitude of the economic affect on the American population... More »

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pregnancy • children • family • birth rate • economy • financial crisis

 Japanese Women
 Dodge Men ISO
 Mommies, Stay Single

Plunging birth rate causes national alarm

Aug 28, 08 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - "WANTED: Female to cook, clean, wash my socks, bear and raise my children, and generally enable my workaholism—all while maintaining your own career in a sexist environment." Sound good? Given the choice, many Japanese women are saying to heck with marriage and staying single, reports the Washington ... More »

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Japan • women • Asia • baby • birth rate • working mothers

Record US Births Top Boomer Peak

Fertility is lower but larger population adds up to baby bumper crop

Jul 18, 08 4:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - More Americans were born last year than in any other in history, reports ABC News. The 4,315,000 bundles of joy even top the Baby Boom at its peak. The expanding population is expected to put more pressure on scarce resources, but all those new taxpayers will help foot... More »

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baby boomer • fertility • baby • birth rate • birth • demographics • baby boom

 In Japan, Elders Outnumber Kids 

Too many senior citizens, not enough children means trouble ahead

May 6, 08 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Monday was Children’s Day in Japan, but the holiday has a bitter irony in a land where the number of children has been waning for 27 years. Kids account for only 13.5% of Japan’s population, while the elderly make up 22%, the Washington Post reports. More »

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elderly • Japan • children • population • birth rate • demographics

China Hangs Onto 1-Child Policy

Country fears growth boom if rule is rescinded

Mar 10, 08 6:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - China will keep up its one-child policy over the next decade as nearly 200 million citizens reach child-bearing age, CNN reports. "Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now," said the country's family planning minister,... More »

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China • fertility • population • birth rate • population control • baby boom • one child policy • overpopulation • fines

China May Drop 1-Baby Law

Officials want more girls, but fear triggering baby boom

Feb 29, 08 7:32 AM CST
(Newser) - China, faced with an aging population and too few women, may end its controversial one- child-per-family policy. The law that allowed urban couples only one child and rural families two is credited with preventing 400 million births over three decades. But cultural preferences for males has also created a troubling... More »

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China • birth rate • population control • one child policy • University College London • fines • National Population and Family Planning Commission • Institute of Child Health • family planning law

'06 a Mini Baby Boom for US

4.3M births highest in 45 years, go against trends in industrialized world

Jan 16, 08 10:38 AM CST
(Newser) - The US experienced a mini baby boom in 2006, with the largest number of children born since the 1960s. The AP reports 4.3 million births that year, giving the US a higher birth rate than Europe, Australia, Canada, or Japan. Hispanics accounted for a quarter of all US births,... More »

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fertility • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • birth rate • Johns Hopkins University • teen births • baby boomlet • magic number • Pew Hispanic Center • American Immigration Control Foundation.

South Korea Bounces Reign of Baby Boys

Girls find new favor
as sex imbalance begins to reverse

Dec 23, 07 10:10 AM CST
(Newser) - Shedding an age-old preference for sons, South Korea has in the last two decades become the first Asian country to reverse a large sex imbalance at birth. A radical shift in Koreans' attitude toward female babies—and toward working women—has brought down the rate of sex-selection abortion, the New ... More »

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China • abortion • South Korea • India • baby • birth rate • gender discrimination

In Japan, Robots Tackle the Dirty Work

As workforce shrinks, machines gain favor over immigrants

Nov 30, 07 12:13 PM CST
(Newser) - With the birthrate sinking and the government showing no inclination to loosen immigration restrictions, Japanese businesses are turning to science for help with the impending worker shortage. The London Times visits a Tokyo exhibition that showcases the possible answer: robots. "Robots do the D-work"--dirty, dangerous, and difficult--"that... More »

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immigration • Japan • birth rate • robot • robotics • shrinking workforce

Russians Get Holiday to Multiply

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

Aug 15, 07 5:38 PM CDT
(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... More »

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Russia • children • family • population • birth rate • birth • Ulyanovsk • Conception Day

Singapore Blossoms into Major City

Stern Asian capital set to emerge as a tourist haven filled with casinos, hotels, and amusement parks

May 27, 07 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Singapore is transforming itself from a dull metropolis famous for its draconian cleanliness into an exciting, vibrant, tourists' paradise, Time reports. Plans are percolating for casinos, skyscrapers, amusement parks, and a multi-billion dollar residential and commercial real estate development located downtown. More »

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China • immigration • tourism • modernization • population • Singapore • birth rate • commercial real estate

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