Did the recession cause a dip in Minnesota births as well? You betcha. Reacting to a federal report on U.S. births in 2010, analysts said there was little way to explain the decline since 2007 other than the economic recession. A check of 2010 birth data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows this state's birth numbers declined by an equivalent rate. Annual births declined 7 percent from a peak of 73,675 in 2007 to 68,407 in 2010. (Note: The Minnesota figures come from the health department's online vital statistics interactive query.The department hasn't posted its annual vital statistics publication for 2010 yet.) Teen births in Minnesota had already been declining over the past decade, but the annual number dropped 10 percent from 2009 to 2010, and a stunning 29 percent from 2007 to last year. (There were 5,249 births to teen moms in 2007, compared to only 4070 in 2010.) The decline in Minnesota births depended on certain demographics. Annual births by foreign-born mothers in Minnesota had tripled over the past decades, but declined sharply after 2007. Births were down among Hispanic mothers as well. The annual number of births did not change for Asians or African-Americans, though. (This is a quick comparison of raw birth numbers. Obviously, increases in total population for a certain demographic group will impact birth totals.) Perhaps the biggest sign of the recession's impact is the change in births by education level of the mothers. Statistically, high-school dropouts have lower paying jobs and are more likely to be hurt by economic swoons. Sure enough, the number of births to mothers with less than four year of high school education (18 and older) dropped 13 percent in Minnesota, and the number to women with only high school degrees dropped 14 percent. Meanwhile, births to women who attended or completed graduate school after college increased slightly over the recession years.

MN Births (mothers 18 and older) Less Than Four Years of High School Four Years of High School College College + 2007 6,773 18,126 35,462 9,930 2008 6,579 17,950 35,164 9,713 2009 6,454 16,792 34,461 10,336 2010 5,900 15,648 33,891 10,337