As families across New Hampshire celebrate Mother’s Day, data shows that mothers face growing challenges in the state from pressures around maternity leave and childcare to unintended pregnancies.

Declining birth rate

New Hampshire is experiencing one of the steepest birth rate declines in the nation, a trend driven by a complex mix of socioeconomic factors affecting families across the state, according to experts.

According to the National Vital Statistics Report, New Hampshire had the fifth-lowest fertility rate in the United States in 2023, with just 46.8 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.

Nicole Heller, senior policy analyst at the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, said that in a state where the birth rate is now lower than the death rate, the impact can start to show on the labor force.

“As people age, as people go out of the labor force and retire, we may not have young people to move into those jobs,” said Heller. “That can become a labor force constraint and an economic constraint.”

Between 2019 and 2023, the state saw approximately 39,525 births and 46,128 deaths, leading to a population decline of about 6,603 people.

Unintended pregnancies

Data from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services shows that nearly one-third of all pregnancies in the state in 2020 were unintended.

The women who responded said they either wanted the pregnancy at a later time, did not want it at all or were unsure if they wanted to be pregnant.

Among those cases, the majority were younger women.

58% of the women reporting unintended pregnancies were under the age of 25. That marks a sharp increase from 2019, when that figure was just 36.1%.

Maternity leave

A growing number of pregnant women in New Hampshire are also opting not to take unpaid maternity leave, according to a recent report from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.

State data from 2020 shows that 42.1% of women took only paid maternity leave, while 25.6% took paid and unpaid leave. Meanwhile, 38.7% of women relied solely on unpaid leave.

Heller said that rising childcare costs may be one factor influencing these decisions.

“For women in the labor force who have children, they may have to cut back on hours if they’re not able to access child care,” said Heller. “They may have to leave the labor force or they may have to hold off on things like promotions or pursuing a higher-paying job because they’re balancing the responsibilities that they have with their children, as well as trying to build their careers.”

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com

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