Amazon's Rise Sparks Mini Baby Boom in Seattle
Seattle's population under 18 has grown by 10% over the past decade, bucking the trend of declining fertility rates in most other big cities. According to a new analysis from the Wall Street Journal, this mini baby boom can be attributed to Amazon's rapid growth in the early and mid-2000s.
Sara Curran, director of the University of Washington's Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, suggests that the influx of young people moving to Seattle to work in the tech industry led to an increase in births. 'We had a fairly large boom in young people moving to Seattle, not young as in children but working-age people who came in to work in the tech industry,' Curran said.
The city's fertility rate began to decline in 2010, dropping from 55 births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age to 31 in 2024. However, this short-lived blip shows the profound effect Amazon had on Seattle. The company went from 7,500 employees in 2000 to 60,000 in 2020.
Amazon's recruitment of young people prioritized the urban experience, which may have led some to stay in the city after having children rather than moving to the suburbs. However, with Amazon laying off thousands of employees and slowing hiring substantially, it remains uncertain whether this trend will continue.