Accordign to recent data, the economy is having a strong impact on Hispanic birthrates. In fact, "the number of babies born to Hispanics dropped below 1 million in 2010, a nearly 11% drop since 2007."
While this trend is impacting people of all ethnicities, it seems to be hitting Hispanics especially hard. As Kenneth Johnson, demographer for the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute, not-so-subtly put it, "Hispanic fertility is dropping like a stone."
So what's the reality of the situation?
"Hispanic birthrates tumbled 17.6% in three years — from 97.4 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 to 80.3 last year, according to preliminary 2010 data released this month by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Non-Hispanic whites still deliver most U.S. births. Their birthrates fell too, but at a much slower pace — down 3.7% to 58.7 per 1,000 women in 2010.
The dramatic decline in births to Hispanics, who still have the highest fertility rates, raises the specter of a long-term drop in the nation's overall fertility — now higher than that of most other developed nations. It also crystallizes the impact of the economic downturn on Hispanics."