Alaskan women are choosing to have fewer or no children and that ultimately translates to fewer fathers in the Last Frontier as well. To be clear, it’s a trend seen not just in Alaska, but across the United States.
According to statistics from the Alaska Department of Health, there were 9,410 births in Alaska in 2021, when the population was 732,673.
Compare that to 1990, when there were 11,902 births in the state, when the population of Alaska was 553,120.
Juneau has the lowest fertility rate in the state now, at 50.2 per 1,000. It’s a dramatic drop from 1990, when its fertility rate was 78.4 per 1,000.
Juneau’s population is currently declining at a rate of -0.82% annually. Population there has decreased by -3.21% since the most since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 32,202 in 2020, according to WorldPopulationReview.com.
Juneau’s low fertility rate is followed by Anchorage, where the fertility rates is 57.7 per 1,000, compared to 80.7 in 1990.
In 1990, Anchorage saw 4,895 births in a population of 226,000. Fast forward to 2021, and it was down to 3,578 births, even though there was a bigger population of 288,121.
Forty-six percent of children in Alaska live in an intact family, meaning they are growing up with their birth parents. On the low end of the intactness scale is Washington, D.C., at 19% of children in intact families and at the high end is Utah, at 57%.
According to the U.S. Census, more than 72 million of the 121 million adult men in the U.S. are fathers. About 75% of fathers are married, nearly 13% of dads are divorced, and 8% have never been married. There are 29 million grandfathers in America, 2 million single fathers raising children, and 24 million fathers living in relationships with females, raising children younger than 18.
The growing trend of DINK families — double income, no kids — was documented by the U.S. Census,w which shows a 7% increase in childless homes from 2012. Now, 43% of homes have no kids, and a study published by Pew Research Center in 2021 shows that 44% of those surveyed in the non-parent ages of 18-49 state they never want children, which is 7% greater than the same survey taken in 2018.
New data from the Census Bureau show the percentage of childless households will be 50% if the trend continues.
Other 2021 facts about Alaska families from the Alaska Department of Health:
4,635 – Number of marriages in Alaska
2,286 – Number of separations in Alaska
377,526 (51%) – Males in Alaska
356,797 (49%) – Females in Alaska
71 – Oldest father of a newborn in Alaska
15 – Youngest father of a newborn in Alaska
31.5 Average age for new fathers in Alaska
The real issue is the why.
It ranges broadly from a society which devalues men, especially black men, to dangerously falling testosterone levels globally.
It’s religious, political, social, economic, and biological. It lacks the easy answer most people crave. Unpacking this is several articles over several weeks.
That’s because the article takes on too much, all the way down to the 15 year old boy who knocked up his girlfriend.
My grandfather was 15, my grandmother 13 when they married because she was pregnant with my uncle. It lasted over 60 years until cancer separated them.
Not a bad idea to start a family at an early age, with advanced maternal age defined as 35 years old. And, with the median age of marriage approaching 30 years old, no wonder the statistics are showing fewer children. There’s more behind the numbers, that’s why we have professionals evaluating them and presenting the results in peer reviewed papers
One of my daughters down south went to Lowe’s on Mothers Day. She was given a flower and sunny greeting.
Her husband went today. He was grunted at and given a sales flyer.
Many young people see children as work and don’t see the rewards of a good family until it’s to late.
Wow, more Alaska kids grow up in broken families than 2 parent (mom and dad) families. When I graduated high school in the Midwest in the mid 80’s, there were maybe a handful of kids out of about 215 that grew up in broken families. No father in the picture, 2 daddies, 2 mommies or whatever else variations people come up with today were unimaginable back then. I guess we just were close minded back then.
The real decision comes to whether children are an asset or a liability. In days past, children definitely acted as an asset to the family business, whether on the farm caring for chickens and weeding the garden, or in business sweeping the floor and working to learn the trade. Industrialization has brought us to where children become a definite liability, needing cared for while bringing nothing to the family home. In the modern world of hedonism, this becomes rampant, with the DINKS thinking only of themselves, not only above family, but above the rest of our fellow citizens. Fortunately this phenomenon is self-limited, as in a generation or two these self-indulgent oafs will have eliminated their long heritage of genes from the pool, likely sitting alone in a chair by the window of a minimally staffed facility, wishing for a visitor or perhaps a phone call from the missing descendants.
Childhood is an apprenticeship to responsible productive adulthood. We should embrace it proudly for the privilege of teaching them.
We would have more fathers if there were more mothers that could go into the work force. With baby boomers retiring there are less people entering the work force and without subsidies child care is unaffordable. The Conservatives either need to moderate and provide government subsidies, or allow some migrants in. The Conservative war on abortion has backfired, their support until birth policy is another failure. It’s not rocket science, just do what Sweden does
Oh “Frank”…
Do you ever get tired of making yourself look foolish?
I understand why you use a pseudonym, unlike you my testosterone level are great.
Oh “Frank”…you’re worried about me.
You’ve got a guardian angel. My response disappeared. But you delude yourself as you wish. In a life as sad as yours, it’s probably all you’ve got.
Hey “Franki”…
Are you implying I use a pseudonym due to testosterone levels? I’m genuinely curious how you came to that piece of “ logic”.
That is among the most senseless diatribes I’ve seen, even from you.
Sweden let in many thousands of migrants from Africa and Muslim countries. Crime against the Swedes from these migrants has destroyed Sweden, the UK, France, Germany, and most of the European countries. Now, this is happening in our country because of Biden’s open border agenda. Wake up, Socialism destroys the customs and traditions of once proud cultures and replaces them with entitlements and criminals who don’t and never will assimilate. DEI and CRT are what needs to disappear in our country.
Yeah, Sweden is a train wreck. It’s sad. The Muslim immigrants won’t assimilate. Their children won’t. Their grandchildren won’t. There is no solution to the problem that the liberals have created. Liberalism eventually destroys its host culture.
“We would have more fathers if there were more mothers that could go into the work force. …and without subsidies child care is unaffordable.”
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How is more women entering the work force going increase fathers in any way?
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If child care is unaffordable, perhaps the mothers should stay home and raise the children themselves, instead of subcontracting it.
And, fathers would be going to work, and supporting the family.
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Let’s be honest: Why should anyone want to be a dad? Men are almost universally despised, blamed and depicted as worthless fools. There is no way such men could fulfill the role of a dad which requires courage, excellence and judgment. Spineless little beta-boys will never become dads.
Grunted at? At the Villages?