The surge in the number of births after World War II, nicknamed the "baby boom," lasted through the early 1960s. At the peak in 1957, 4.3 million births were recorded, an increase of 19 percent from 1948.

In contrast, the "baby boom echo," which began in the late 1970s, reached 4.1 million births at its peak in 1990, reflecting a 25 percent increase from 1977. Unlike the decline in the post-baby boom era, when births dropped down to 3.1 million in the early 1970s, the number of births in the post-baby boom echo era is expected to remain fairly stable at nearly 4 million for about a decade. Long-range projections by the U.S. Bureau of the Census indicate a rising number of births thereafter, from 4.1 million in 2008 to 4.5 million in 2018.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics to 2008; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1995 to 2050.

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[ Suburban Growth in Washington State ] [ Figure 2. -- Enrollment in public and private elementary and secondary schools: Fall 1968 to fall 2008 ]