According to data from the United Nations, the U.S. has had birth rates below the replacement level since 1972, with a brief exception when births rose between 2006 to 2007 before entering a constant state of decline.
The new CDC data shows that American women are giving birth at record-low rates. For instance, birth rates for women aged 20 to 24 decreased by four percent to 55.4 births per 1,000 women in 2023, while women aged 35 to 39 fell to 54.7 births per 1,000 women. In other words, women in their mid-to-late 30s are now having children at rates similar to those in their early to mid-20s. These figures show significant drops for those in their 20s and 30s, but birth rates for women in their 40s remain unchanged.
Birth rates for teenagers aged 15 to 19 also continue to decline, but the rate of decrease has slowed. In 2023, these rates fell by just three percent, contrasting with the average seven percent annual decline observed between 2007 and 2022. (Related: Census Bureau: U.S. population projected to begin declining by 2100.)
The overall fertility landscape depicts a widespread decline, with the general fertility rate dropping by three percent to 54.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. This decline spans across most racial and ethnic groups. Fertility rates for Hispanic women, which slightly rose in 2022, fell by one percent to 65 births per 1,000 women in 2023. Similarly, among non-Hispanic groups, fertility rates decreased by five percent for American Indian and Alaska Native women and by three percent for both Black and Asian women.
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The 1.62 births per woman in 2023 represents the lowest rate recorded since the government began tracking fertility data in the 1930s.
Several factors driving the surge in childlessness
This development comes as women in America grapple with economic and social hurdles, leading some to postpone plans to have children or to fully opt out of becoming parents.
Various influences, including women having fewer children and doing so later in life, focusing on building rewarding careers and having increased access to birth control widely contribute to this trend. Additionally, younger individuals are facing greater uncertainty about their futures and allocating more of their earnings towards owning homes, repaying student loans and covering childcare expenses. Delaying childbirth may result in women having fewer children than they initially planned, partly due to declining fertility as they age.
"People are making rather reasoned decisions about whether or not to have a child at all," said Karen Benjamin Guzzo, director of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "More often than not, I think what they're deciding is 'Yes, I’d like to have children, but not yet.'"
In a documentary titled "Birthgap – Childless World," renowned data analyst Stephen J. Shaw mentioned several contributing factors to a dramatic surge in childlessness not just in the U.S. but across different countries within a short period.
Contrary to popular belief, the documentary reveals that the majority of childless women desire children, but finding the right partner within the optimal timeframe for childbearing is challenging. Factors contributing to this predicament include delayed childbearing until the closure of the fertility window, preference for partners of comparable education levels and shifts in societal dynamics such as increased female participation in higher education.
Learn more about declining populations across the world at PopulationCollapse.com.
Watch this episode of "Light Listening" discussing the reasons behind the sharp decline in U.S. births.
This video is from The Lightbulb Initiative channel on Brighteon.com.
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