Oh baby! Is LI fertile enough for more federal transportation dollars?

Daily Point

Although Trump boosts IVF access, low fertility rates could leave NY behind 

A recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump to expand access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, care across the United States was in tune with the administration’s message: The Trump administration wants America to have more babies.

Vice President JD Vance, the father of three young children, is taking the lead, saying last month that "it is the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids ..."

There is talk of increased child care tax credits and, more recently, a peculiar memo tying federal transportation funding to birth and marriage rates which is perilous for states such as New York. Its lower-than-national birth rates could impact key federal funding.

For Long Island, which has a growing aging population and underfunded transportation needs, what will that look like?

Birthrates and fertility rates across the U.S. have generally been on the decline, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, Long Island has seen a slight uptick in the rate of women between 15 and 50 years old who gave birth over a 12-month period. In Nassau County, there were an estimated 53 women per 1,000 who had live births in 2023 as per the latest available data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In Suffolk, the estimated fertility rate was 51 per 1,000 women in 2023. Long Island’s fertility rate was above the statewide average of 49 during the same period, but lower than the national rate of 54.5.

Fertility rates are calculated as the number of births divided by the number of females of childbearing age. This differs from birth rates which measure the number of live births to the population. The most recent data available by county for birth rates was 2021.

The average age of women giving birth continues to rise, with increasing access to infertility treatments. A 2023 study by the Pew Research Center reported that 42% of U.S. residents had either used some form of fertility treatment or knew someone who did, compared with 37% in 2018.

Approximately 1,873 pregnancies on Long Island in 2022 were the result of assisted reproductive technology treatment or IVF procedures, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The database measures success rates of major IVF centers in Nassau and Suffolk counties. This does not include residents who received treatment elsewhere, and includes patients from other counties who possibly sought infertility treatment on Long Island.

— Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

Pencil Point

DOGE-ing Congress 

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Great Eggs-pectations Point

Egg-sactly as predicted

The cost of basic food items continues to creep into luxury territory. At Erewhon, an upscale grocery store in California, a single strawberry from Kyoto, Japan is being sold for $19. At the same chain, you can find a dozen organic medium eggs for $16.99. The national average for a dozen white eggs currently sits at $8.11, according to Trading Economics; around the same time last year they were $3.05. President Donald Trump himself said in an interview last week that "inflation is back" but he claims he has nothing to do with it.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said Wednesday that the price of eggs could increase by 40% this year, double the amount it predicted in January.

As H5N1, or bird flu, continues to spread, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the federal government is planning to import eggs from other countries. The Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey says it will be exporting about 15,000 tons of eggs to the United States by July, but even with help from other countries, imports are hardly a sustainable solution.

This week, 12 large white eggs are $7.99 at the Long Island supermarket The Point has been monitoring. Last week, the price was $6.99. That’s a 14% increase.

— Christine Wallen christine.wallen@newsday.com

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