If you believe that children are our future, you may be disheartened to learn that fewer children are being born in California. Numbers from the California Department of Public Health show a marked decline in birth rates, reaching a level that many experts say is the lowest in history.
In 2010, the most recent year for statewide statistics, only 63 babies were born per 1,000 women of fertility age—that is, 15 to 44 years old. Just four years earlier, the rate was 71.3, which itself was down from 75.5 in 1995.
Butte County had the 11th-lowest rate in the state at 51 babies per 1,000 fertile-aged women. Interestingly, one county neighbor, Glenn, posted the seventh-highest rate, 71.9.
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