July 24, 2025
Christian Bowen/UNSPLASH.COM
The U.S. fertility rate has been sliding since 2007, reaching a new low in 2024, CDC data shows. A declining fertility rate means a shrinking workforce, which can negatively impact economic growth.
The U.S. fertility rate dropped to a record low in 2024, according to data released Thursday.
Though the number of births increased by 1% between 2023 and 2024 for women ages 15 to 44, the fertility rate — the number of babies women are having on average — fell by 1% from 54.5 births per 1,000 women to 53.8 births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It equates to 1.6 children per women of childbearing age.
Overall, the fertility rate dropped 22% between 2007 – the most recent high – and 2024, according to the report. Factors that have contributed to the declining fertility rate include greater access to birth control and women waiting longer to have children or deciding not to have any at all. A recent poll found the expenses of raising children, including the high price tag for child care, are of primary concern to Americans.
With women having fewer than two children on average, the population is not able to sustain itself, meaning there will not be enough births to make up for the number of people dying.
Declining birth rates can negatively impact the economy by shrinking the workforce. The decline also may impact Social Security since there will be fewer young workers to feed into the system in support of older people, according to an analysis by North Carolina State University. A Stanford economist explained that fewer births and a contracting population means less discovery and creativity to drive economic growth.
The new CDC data shows that between 2023 and 2024, the birth rates declined for women ages 15 to 34. The birth rates for women 35 to 39 remained the same between 2023 and 2024 and rose for women ages 40 to 44.
In every age group, the percentage of births covered by Medicaid went down between 2% and 3%, according to the report. These figures may indicate that fewer women in low-income groups have access to publicly-funded health care, which could negatively impact health outcomes, according to an analysis from Georgetown University.
President Donald Trump brought attention to falling birth rates in February by signing an executive order to have insurers cover more of the costs of in vitro fertilization – a medical intervention for infertility involving surgical retrieval of eggs and fertilization outside the uterus.
The dipping U.S. fertility rate is in line with global trends. The fertility rate worldwide was 2.2 births per woman in 2024. It is projected to continue to drop to 2.1 births per woman in 2050, which is the average number needed to maintain a stable population size. The fertility rate is projected to drop even further by 2100, to 1.8 births per woman, according to a 2024 United Nations report.
