Birth Rates in China and the USA

A glance at the graph provided reveals the obvious similarity of the birth trend between China and the USA, during the period from 1920 to 2000. It is evident that the fertility of both countries fluctuated from 1920 to 1955, and then declined steadily in the latter 45 years.

Increasing from approximately 10 percent in 1920, China’s birth rate then plunged to 5 percent in the 1940s. The following 5 years saw a considerable rise to 20 percent in 1955, which had then reached the peak in the historical record of this figure. After 1950, there was a significant drop to around 9 percent in 1955, and then it kept steadily decreasing until 2000.

The US birth rate, meanwhile, fluctuated at somewhere between 10 percent and 15 percent during the period from 1920 to 1940. Likewise, the US birth rate had fallen to the lowest rate at 4 percent in 1945, and then went to the highest on record by 15 percent in 1950. During the latter half of this century, the US birth rate declined gradually every year until 7 percent in 2000.

It is interesting to note that the fertilities of both countries were comparable before 1950. However, after 1950, the gap between the countries widened with a 5 percent difference.