Despite the fact that the birth rate in New York has held steady at about 15 percent, the number of women having babies in New York has dropped steadily over the past 20 years, when it peaked at 19 percent in 1990.
“Along with delaying marriage, people are delaying having children,” said Rachel Sussman, a Manhattan-based family therapist.
Another factor may be cost:?Without insurance, delivery even without complications can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 in New York City.
Which isn’t to say that New York City isn’t seeing its share of babies. According to recently released data from the New York City Department of Health, the majority of babies born in the city in 2009 (63,000) were born to women 18 to 29 years old. The second-most common age to give birth in New York is from 30 to 34. Women over 35 had 20,662 babies, while 2,420 were born to girls under 18.
The majority of babies in New York — 30,000 — were born to women with no high school diploma, followed by 29,403 babies born to moms with only a high school education. Women with a master’s degree or higher had 16,855 babies in 2009.
Teen pregnancy in NYC also has dropped, down to 6 percent in 2009.
