Utah Birth Rate Still On Decline Even As Economy Recovers

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah is known for its high birth rate, but an ongoing lag has researchers wondering if the state is in a new era of lower fertility.

The state’s demographers expected people to start having more children as they recovered from the Great Recession, but new census data shows that even with more people working and making more money the state’s fertility rate has continued to drop.

The Deseret News reports that Utah’s fertility rate fell to 2.03 births per woman last year – the lowest rate in more than 50 years. The state’s rate is now lower than North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.