On April 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its report on U.S. fertility rates that showed the total fertility rate fell to 1.62 births per woman in 2023, a 2% decline from the prior year and the lowest rate since the government began tracking that data in the 1930’s.[1]
This is attributed to women having fewer children, later in life; to women having fulfilling careers and more access to contraception; young people being more uncertain about their futures and spending more of their income on home ownership, student debt and child care.
The total number of children born in the U.S. in 2023 was approximately 3.59 million.
This phenomenon is partially offset by increasing immigration of people from other countries. In short, the U.S. benefits from increasing immigration.[2]
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[1] Calfas & DeBarros, U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low, W.S.J. (April 25, 2024)
[2] See, e.g., the following dwkcommentries.com posts: Naturalized U.S. Citizens: Important Contributors to U.S. Culture and Economy,(June 7, 2015); Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugee and Migrant Resettlement (Feb. 3, 2023); Other States Join Iowa in Encouraging Immigration to Combat Aging, Declining Population (Feb. 22, 2023); Wall Street Journal Editorial: U.S. Needs More Immigrants (July 25, 2023); U.S. Has Long-Term Labor Crisis (Sept. 26, 2023); Migrants from All Over Flocking to U.S. (Nov. 4, 2023);U.S. States That Could Have the Greatest Benefit from Immigrant Labor (Feb. 28, 2024); Another Documentation of the U.S. Need for Immigrants (April 12, 2024).
