Data shows US birthrates fell to a record low — and that was before coronavirus hit

• US birthrates contracted 1% in 2019, dropping to the least number of babies born per year in 35 years.
• In 2019, 3.75 million babies were born, according to provisional figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
• And general fertility, calculated by the number of births per women aged 5 to 44, fell to its lowest level since the government began tracking that data in 1909.
• The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in the possibility of a "coronial" or "Baby Zoomer" boom — although experts think economic concerns may prevent that from happening.

US birthrates declined again this year to the lowest number of babies born in 35 years. And a postulated "coronial baby boom" is likely not going to be a thing, experts say.

The birthrate shrank 1% to 3.75 million babies born in 2019, according to provisional figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. General fertility fell to its lowest level since the government began tracking the figure in 1909, dipping 2% to 58.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.

Birthrates have been on the decline since the 2008 recession, as financial hardship discouraged childbearing, falling in similar patterns after the Great Depression. And with the coronavirus pushing the economy in a similar direction, experts are guessing that all-time lows could be coming again in the near future.

"People that were products of the Great Depression, the birthrates were much lower for that cohort than they were for people born after World War II," Rhode Island University Assistant Professor of Sociology Melanie Brasher, who studies fertility, told The Wall Street Journal.

Others have disagreed, claiming the stay-at-home orders now might increase the number of births in about nine months. This, coupled with more difficult access to contraceptives, has fueled the speculation of a "coronials" or "Baby Zoomers" boost.

"These (social distancing) recommendations mean people are spending a lot of time together and may have more time than usual to have sex," Planned Parenthood's Director of Medical Standards June Gupta told USA Today. "This could result in more pregnancies if, hypothetically speaking, people are unable to access family planning resources like birth control, emergency contraception, condoms, or abortion."

But the pandemic is expected to shutter about 30% of US childcare centers, as Business Insider's Marguerite Ward reported, which would be a strong dissuasion to working parents wanting to rejigger careers after time working from home — or not working at all — and especially for women.

Factoring in financial distress, a higher deathrate from the pandemic, and restricted immigration, more free time for potential parents might not outweigh the factors inhibiting a baby-Zoom boom for 2020.

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