AP Analysis: The Expected COVID Baby Boom May be a Baby Bust

NEW YORK (AP) — When most of the U.S. went into lockdown over a year ago, some speculated that confining couples to their homes would lead to a lot of baby-making.

But the statistics suggest the opposite happened.

Births have fallen dramatically in many states during the coronavirus outbreak, according to an Associated Press analysis of preliminary data from half the country.

Births for all of 2020 were down 4.3% from 2019, the data indicates.

More tellingly, births in December 2020 and in January and February 2021 — nine months or more after the spring 2020 lockdowns — fell 8%.