State and National Vital Statistics
According to State laws in the United States, a birth certificate is required to be completed for every birth. The collection and publication of birth rates as vital statistic data are mandated by Federal law (“NVSS – Birth Data”, 2020). States cooperate with the National Center for Health Statistics to compile statistical information from birth certificates to the National Vital Statistics System.
National and State Birth Rates
Key birth statistics provided in the National Vital Statistics System indicates that the number of births in the United States was 3,791,712 in the year 2018. The birth rate of the country’s population was 11.6 per 1000 people. The fertility rate of the nation’s women was 1,728 births for every 1000 women aged between 15 and 44 years. In contrast, the birth rate per 1000 women in the State of Illinois was 16,900 whereas the number of births recorded in the state in the year 2018 was 144, 828 (“Birth Statistics | IDPH”, 2020).
Comparison of State and National Trends
Trends at the national level indicate that birth rates are falling in the United States. The decrease in birth rates is attributed to fewer teenage pregnancies, delay of motherhood by younger women, and a third of the population of young women preferring not to have any children (Amadeo, 2020). Likewise, a constant decrease in the number of births in the state of Illinois over the past two years indicates a falling trend in birth rates. Birth statistics derived by the Illinois Department of Public Health specify that a decrease in teen births is the primary causative factor for a decreasing trend in the state’s birth rates.