THE DECLINING BIRTH RATE 



119 



Table of the Annual Births per 1000 of the Population for Several Coun- 

 tries of Europe 



There are no statistics on the birth rate of the United States as 

 a whole. A few states have kept records of births for several 

 years, but they have been admittedly incomplete, although in 

 general they are improving. From various sources, however, it is 

 evident that the birth rate in this country is declining at a rate 

 quite comparable to that of the more civilized nations of Europe. 

 Even with our enormous immigration the increase in the popula- 

 tion of the United States has fallen far short of what it was pre- 

 dicted to be by the statisticians of a half century ago who based 

 their estimates on the rate of natural increase existing at that 

 time. 



Since we know the number of immigrants annually entering 

 the country, we can estimate the proportion of our population 

 that results from natural increase, and we can, therefore, form a 

 rough estimate of the general birth rate. The United States 

 census, while it gives no statistics on birth rates, enumerates 

 the number of children under five years of age. The diminishing 



