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SALT LAKE CITY — Government data collected by the Census Bureau just in time for the 97th official Mother's Day gives a snapshot of the 85.4 million moms in the United States.
Here are a few of the highlights, gleaned from the most recent tallies available:
Utah: The state with the highest fertility rate with the average number of children at 2.6 per woman. Vermont has the lowest birthrate at 1.7 births per woman.
Jacob and Isabella: The most popular boy and girl baby names in 2009. In Utah, William and Olivia were the most popular Utah boy and girl baby names in both 2009 and 2010.
82 percent: Women age 40-44 who had given birth as of 2008. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group had given birth.
4.13 million: The number of births registered in the United States in 2009. Of this number, 409,840 children were born to teens age 15 to 19, and 7,934 to mothers age 45 to 54.
25.1: The average age of women in 2008 when they gave birth for the first time. In Utah, where the health department groups age ranges when reporting birth statistics, 25-year-olds are in the second largest block of women having their first child. The biggest block in Utah includes women age 20-24.
40 percent: Births that were the mother's first in 2008.
18,986: The number of births in 2008 that were the mother's eighth or more.
32.6 per thousand: The number of twin births in 2008, the highest rate on record.
6,268: The number of triplet and higher order births in 2008, the lowest number reported in more than a decade. The components include 5,877 sets of triplets, 345 sets of quadruplets and 46 that were quintuplets and higher.
July: The month with the highest number of births in 2008.
Tuesday: The most common day to deliver, also in 2008.
61 percent: The proportion of mothers with a recent birth who were in the labor force in 2008, up from 57 percent in 2006.
777,817: The number of child care centers across the country in 2008.
9.9 million: The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2010, up from 3.4 million in 1970.
Email:sfidel@ksl.com
