U.S. birth rate drops to record low, but older women are having more babies
asserted
women → drop → babies
Sarah Harris was 37 years old when she gave birth to her daughter Bridget last year.
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she → give → daughter
She describes motherhood as equal parts joy and exhaustion.
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She → describe → joy
"When you have a baby in your mid-30s, what you gain in wisdom and experience you also lose in terms of energy," Harris says with a laugh.
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Harris → have → laugh
Harris, who lives in Vermont, was laid off from a job four months after Bridget was born.
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Bridget → live → job
She says she's still figuring out what her career and her life will look like with a child.
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career → say → child
Harris thinks a lot of women are like her.
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lot → think → her
They're wrestling with financial uncertainty and waiting much later to choose pregnancy.
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They → wrestle → pregnancy
There's also the high cost of raising a child, which Harris said convinced her that one is enough.
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one → be → her
"I think in another era or another life or another scenario, I might have had more children," Harris says.
uncertain
Harris → think → children
"I think we're in a difficult societal moment and so that's absolutely affecting people's reproductive choices.
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that → think → choices
"
Harris is, in fact, part of a slow revolution in what motherhood and parenting look like in the United States
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motherhood → look → States
The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the general fertility rate for women fell by 1% to a new record low in 2025.
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rate → find → 2025
That continues a two-decade trend toward fewer children.
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That → continue → children
Steep drops in parenting among U.S. women in their 20s
The one-year drop for 20-somethings was even more eye-catching.
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drop → catch → somethings
"Certainly the 6% decline in the birthrate for women age 20 to 24 is noteworthy," said Brady Hamilton, a demographer at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics who co-authored the report.
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who → say → report
He noted that women in their late teens also saw a 7% decline.
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women → note → decline
A separate study released last month by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found Gen Z women, in their late teens and twenties, "are dramatically less likely to want children" compared with U.S. women of previous generations.
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women → release → generations
"Several factors have been identified as contributing to this lower desire to have children, such as increased labor market opportunities and agency among women, rising financial costs, changing priorities, and [concerns about] maternal mortality," the study found.
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study → identify → mortality
Dr. Tanise Branche, medical director of labor and delivery at Temple Health, a health, research and training network in Philadelphia, told NPR more of her younger women patients are following a different life script.
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more → tell → script
"They're starting to focus not necessarily just on what they can bring to kids, but what's going to be best for them," she says.
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she → start → them
Women in their 30s and 40s saw "significant" birthrate increase
Meanwhile, the latest CDC data shows a small but significant increase in older women, ages 30 to 45, who are choosing to become pregnant.
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who → see → women
Branche says more women, including herself, are building careers and stable lives before becoming mothers.
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women → say → careers
"I will be 43 with my last delivery and I started this reproductive journey at 37," she said.
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she → start → 37
"I see the net positive being that we have a choice."
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we → see → choice
The population under age 18 is falling steadily, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, dropping by more than 1 million from 2010 to 2020.
uncertain
population → fall → 2020
Some experts also believe women would choose to have more kids if they could afford them and had proper supports that include affordable housing, daycare and health insurance.
uncertain
that → believe → housing
"The fact that there are a lot of people who still say they want families, but don't feel like they're able to have them [is a concern]," says Anna Louie Sussman, author of a new book on parenting choices called Inconceivable.
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Sussman → be → choices
"Young people say, I can barely take care of myself I can't imagine taking care of someone else."
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I → say → someone
Because of her own concerns about affordability and her career, she froze her eggs and waited to have her child until she was in her early 40s.
asserted
she → freeze → 40s
"I do feel lucky that I'm a little further along professionally than I would have been in my 20s or even 30s," she said.
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she → feel → 20s
As women build different lives and birthrates keep falling, the U.S. is changing.
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U.S. → build → lives
The median age is rising rapidly, reaching 39.4 years old in 2025.
asserted
age → rise → 2025
More states, including Vermont where Sarah Harris lives, are seeing actual population decline, according to the Census Bureau.
uncertain
Harris → include → Bureau
"I think about it a lot because I live in a very small place where we're hoping to keep the doors of our elementary school open for as long as we can," she says.
asserted
she → think → school
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