Births in ND increased over the years of fracking expansion in North Dakota. I break out the data around mothers age to further our understanding of the changes.
A Boom in North Dakota Births? (Dec. 2021 Discussion)
ND Births, The Early COVID Data
Despite the high population growth for ND from Census 2020 the births numbers were declining, even before the COVID crisis.
North Dakota Natural Increase
People matter. With most policy initiatives in North Dakota, economic or otherwise, population represents an important constraint. I talk about natural increase across counties in North Dakota in this post.
ND Births By County, 2011-16
For those that question the impact of the oil boom, I offer up this post on birth rates. Now the answers are not quite as obvious as you might expect. It is probably important that you recall my earlier post about the net migration by county for North Dakota (found here). The beginning year for our look at birth rates is 2011 where we see the leaders in birth rates are counties with sizable Native American populations. There is, as yet, no boom in the Bakken area, and there is a remarkable degree of consistency as far as rates across the state.
After the Crisis, the Baby Boom
The Weather Channel had a report on this week about circumstances on the eastern seaboard after SuperStorm Sandy. My students in Forecasting and Demography classes hear this information from me all the time. Look at any natural disaster, widespread blackout or other major event, and then take a look starting eight months later and you will notice an uptick in births. In fact, you can see this ahead of time if you pay attention to the OB-GYN visits. People are creatures of habit, and it sounds corny, but in times of crisis they look for comfort.