KALAMAZOO, MI -- When birth rates went down in 2008 and 2009, officials in Southwest Michigan schools figured it was a temporary blip related to the the recession.

But while the economy has recovered, the birth rate has not: In every year since 2007, the total number of births has dropped in a seven-county region that includes Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties.

Since 2007, the decline has been 14 percent, an unnerving statistic for school officials who need stable or growing enrollment to maintain a fiscally healthy school system.

"It's a troublesome trend and schools are going to need to adjust, particularly if there's not a turnaround in the birth rate," said David Campbell, superintendent of the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency.

What's happening locally is reflected statewide: In 2013, the state recorded 112,486 live births, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. That's the lowest number of births in 69 years, going back to 1945, when the state had 60 percent of the population it does now.

The state's fertility rate -- the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 -- was 59.3 in 2013, a record low going back to 1900. The fertility rate in Kalamazoo County was even lower, at 56.5.

So what's going on?

For openers, births to teenagers have plummeted -- down 29 percent statewide since 2007. The number of babies born to Michigan teenagers in 2012 is half of what it was 20 years earlier.

RELATED: Kalamazoo-area K-12 public school enrollment continues on downward trend

But teen births are only a small part of the total. The bigger story is the 9 percent drop in births to Michigan women in their 20s, the prime child-bearing age, plus the 6 percent drop in births to women in their 30s.

Even births to women age 40 to 44 have dropped 4 percent since 2007, despite the trend of older mothers.

George Erickcek, a senior economist for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, says the drop in births is a mix of good news and bad.

The decline in teens births is "great news," he said. "There's no way to put a bad spin on that."

The drop in births to 20-somethings has two sides, he said.

On the negative, it likely reflects the fact that young professionals today are often saddled by student debt and those without a college degree face a dearth of good-paying jobs.

"While the employment market has improved, this is still a risky labor market in terms of wages," Erickcek said. "Wages are still quite low, and for young adults, it doesn't feel like an economic recovery.

"So, I think that maybe a factor is that individuals are saying they don't have enough money to start a family," he said.

The positive side, according to Erickcek, is that childless 20-somethings are revitalizing Michigan cities.

"You're seeing more young adults living in urban landscapes, which is wonderful," he said. "When young adults don't have children, they can choose to live in a downtown like Kalamazoo or Battle Creek or Grand Rapids."

He said the trend towards fewer children is a phenomenon seen throughout the developed world.

"People are realizing that having children can really change your life, and they're taking it more seriously," Erickcek said. "By waiting to have children, you could say that young adults are making a rationale decision."

Still, it's a decision that could have some negative implications for society over the long term. "You don't have to look much farther than Japan to see what the problems are" when the birth rates are low over a long period, Erickcek said. Those issues include a shrinking workforce and disproportionate spending on services for senior citizens.

Low birth rates "are a good argument for good immigration policy, and there's also hope that productivity increase will even things out by allow fewer people to produce more products," Erickcek said.

Low birth rates also are a reason to consider public policy solutions to income inequality, such as a higher minimum wage, according to Erickcek.

"People are making a lot of these decisions (about having children) based on wages, and if wages are stagnant, that's a strong incentive to have a smaller family," he said.

A long-term decline in births also may force Michigan to rethink its K-12 school system, Erickcek noted.

"It could be a problem down the road for public schools," since the current funding formula is linked to enrollment, he said. "If these birth trends continue, you can't see how it wouldn't encourage consolidation of schools."

Campbell, the KRESA superintendent, acknowledged there are benefits to be had in the birth numbers, particularly in the decline of teenagers having babies.

"It's good when people think that having children is not something to be taken lightly," he said.

But on the other hand, he said, that's little consolation for school officials dependent on strong enrollment to keep their institutions fiscally healthy.

"When you're a public school official," Campbell said, "you want your (student) count to be up."

Check the data for your county

Below is a sortable database with the number of births for Michigan's 83 counties from 2007 to 2013. You can scroll through the list to find your county. Click on "details" for the numbers for 2008-2012.

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Julie Mack covers K-12 education and writes a column for Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at jmack1@mlive.com, call her at 269-350-0277 or follow her on Twitter at @kzjuliemack.