For the first time in seven years, the U.S. birth rate increased by 1 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The increase was not universal: the teen birth rate dropped by 9 percent, a record low, while births among women in their 30s rose 3 percent and among women in their 40s rose 2 percent. The general fertility rate grew to 63 births per 1,000 women in 2014, up from 62.5 per 1,000 in 2013. The change was apparent across races except among American Indian and Alaska Native women, who experienced a decrease. The proportion of births among older married women increased, while the proportion among unmarried younger women declined. There are likely many reasons for this shift, but an increase in contraceptive use likely played a role: more women are using condoms and the pill than 20 years ago, and IUDs are gaining popularity because of their ease of use. According to the CDC, the most effective contraceptives for teens are IUDs and implants, and their increased use appears to be paying off. Teen births have fallen by more than 60% over the past 25 years. The most recent peak was in 1991, when there were about 62 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19; today the rate is 24 per 1,000. The change is gradual but important: children born to teenage parents are more likely to be born prematurely and to suffer poor health early in life. That wasn't the only large drop in 2014, as the U.S. also saw a 2% decline in births among women in their 20s. Like the teen birth rate, this is part of an ongoing trend; the birth rate among women in their early 20s has declined steadily since 2007. Millennial women may be delaying childbirth longer than previous generations, since prime childbearing years often coincide with crucial career-advancement years. A recent study shows that the marital pay gap that emerges after a first child is born typically does not close if the birth occurs between ages 25 and 35. Shannon Hettinger, 32, of Washington, D.C., said she definitely wants children. She grew up in a large family in a small Pennsylvania town, and almost all her high school friends are married with children, but she moved to Washington and spent her 20s deciding on a career. Now that she has one she loves — she works in residential real estate sales — she is not going to stop until she gets established. That means not having children for a while. "I just want to build my book of business and see where I can go from here," she said. "My whole focus is career growth. That's my No. 1 priority." "Once I achieve a certain level of success," she added, "then I'll start thinking about a family."

Ivy Gray-Klein, 26, who lives in Philadelphia and works at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, said she was open to having children but cannot imagine doing so until she is 30 or 35. She wants to feel settled in her own life first. Now she has three roommates, is paying down her student loans, and is working to build a little bit of savings. "I'm just really trying to get myself to a place that is solid," she said by phone. "Having a child right now would be so destabilizing. Children just seem like such an enormous financial undertaking."

The country has had declines before. The longest period of continuous decline on record was from 1958 to 1968, according to Brady E. Hamilton, a statistician and demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics. The United States has been tracking the number of births and birthrates since about 1910. The most recent decline has been deepest for minorities. The fertility rate among Hispanic women dropped more than 27 percent between 2007 and 2016, the most recent year of data by race. The rate among White people has dropped by about 4%, among Black people by about 11%, and among Asian people by about 5%.