Socioeconomic Disparity in Birth Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City

Abstract

Background:

The differential impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status remains poorly understood. While recent explorations into birthrates during the pandemic have revealed significant declines, how birthrates may have differed between racial and socioeconomic subgroups during the pandemic remains to be detailed.

Methods:

Using electronic health records from a large hospital network in New York serving a racially and socioeconomically diverse population, we explored birthrates associated with conceptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown for demographic and obstetric differences.

Results:

Two thousand five hundred twenty-three unique patient deliveries corresponded with conceptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in New York. Compared to the same period the previous year, there was a 22.85% decrease in births. Explorations into differences in birthrates by socioeconomic status revealed that much of the decline could be explained by fewer births among individuals living in higher socioeconomic status as opposed to individuals living in urban economic poverty [χ²(n = 5588) = 18.35, p < 0.01].

Conclusion:

On March 22, 2020, New York instituted a prohibition of all nonessential social gatherings and the closure of all nonessential businesses. Although the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reproductive health and outcomes remains largely unknown, the decreased birthrate associated with the initial COVID-19 wave in New York was not entirely unexpected. While the mechanisms that drive health disparities are complex and multifactorial, most of the decrease occurred among those living in higher socioeconomic status. This finding has important implications for understanding health behaviors and disparities among minorities living in low socioeconomic status.