America's birthrate fell to a recor

America's birthrate fell to a record low last year, the lowest since 1909, while the percentages of premature and low birth-weight babies climbed, continuing the rise of recent years.⑽ The rate fell to 13.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, down 1% from the year before and 17% from its most recent peak in 1990, according to the official statistics. // A major factor in the decline in the birthrate has been the reduction in births to teenagers in recent years. ⑾ The birthrate among teens fell to its lowest level, 43 births per 1,000 females 15 to 19 years old, when rising teen pregnancy rates set off alarms and prompted a variety of groups to start campaigns promoting birth control. ⑿ // Other factors have also played an important part in the decline of the US birthrate in the past decade, including the aging of the population. Official statistics have indicated that American women in their prime child-bearing years have been choosing to have fewer children and, as the population ages, there are fewer women in their 20s and 30s. // Although the birthrate for unmarried women in the United States declined last year to 43.6 per 1,000 unmarried women 20 to 44 years of age, yet this group still accounted for more than one-third of all births, an increase of nearly 7 percent over the past year. In short, America is increasingly a society of seniors and less one of young people.