==== 3 Factors Killing America’s Birth Rate ====
💡The global birthrate is plummeting, and in the United States, the CDC says the fertility rate just hit an all-time low. But why don’t people want to have babies? It’s not the fertility fallacy politicians and podcasters want to sell you. According to the United Nations, there are three main reasons why people are choosing to have fewer kids around the world. This video outlines the three reasons and explains what the UN says governments can do to reverse this trend. 📉👶❌
Population decline is no longer a distant issue—it’s happening now. In America, fewer births mean fewer workers, shrinking tax bases, and greater challenges for future generations. Economists warn that if the trend continues, the U.S. may face major social and financial problems in the decades ahead. 🇺🇸
In this video, we’ll break down:
🔹 Why America’s fertility rate is hitting record lows
🔹 The three biggest factors driving population decline globally
🔹 What the United Nations recommends governments do to address the crisis
🔹 The cultural, social, and economic challenges influencing families’ decisions today
From rising housing and childcare costs 💰🏠 to women pursuing higher education 📚 and careers to shifting priorities among younger generations—the story is much bigger than politics. This is about the future of society itself.
📊 Whether you’re concerned about the economy, the workforce, or the future of families in America, this video offers insights you won’t hear in political soundbites.
👉 Watch until the end to learn how population decline could shape the U.S. for years to come—and what solutions experts believe might help turn the tide.
Babies….they’re so cute. But we don’t have enough of them. The global birthrate is plummeting and in the US last year – we had our lowest fertility rate ever. It’s being called a crisis.
So — that’s not great. But –why does it matter? And why aren’t people having kids?
The answer – is not the fertility fallacy the politicians and podcasters are selling you. It’s not because women are too busy at work or because adults these days are more selfish and they just don’t want kids in their lives. According to the latest United Nations report — the reason why more people aren’t having kids is simple…– money.
Ok – before I get into this very interesting report from the United Nations, I want to quickly touch on the baby situation in the United States. At the end of July the Centers for Disease Control said in 2024 the fertility rate dropped to an all-time low…. Less than 1.6 kids per woman ages 15 to 44. The rate needed for a population to replace itself from one generation to the next is 2.1 kids per woman. And when you’re not hitting that replacement rate and there are fewer babies — in the end you end up with a country with larger proportions of older people who tend to be sicker and smaller proportions of younger, healthier people who are able to work. In the United States from the most recent high in 2007 the birthrate has declined 16% and the fertility rate has declined 22%.
The US is seeing the birthrate for all age ranges decline except for women ages 40 to 44 which increased just 2-percent between 2023 and 2024. I want to shout out all you 35 to 39 year olds – you’re staying steady between 2023 and 2024.
This is on trend with the declining fertility rates we’ve been seeing for the last two decades in this country. And the United States isn’t alone.
This is a chart from the world bank group which tracks all the fertility rates in every country and you can just see crash and burn.
So why is this happening?
Well – the United Nations puts out this state of the world population report every year. And this year they discovered – the crisis isn’t that people don’t want kids…the crisis is they want kids but they are “being denied the freedom to start families due to skyrocketing living costs, persistent gender inequality, and deepening uncertainty about the future.”
The UN surveyed thousands of people, men and women — from 14 different countries that together represent 37% of the global population and found three main reasons why people aren’t having kids. Number three is job insecurity (19%). Number two fear for the future everything from climate change to war (21%). And the number one reason why people aren’t having kids – economic barriers. Money. (39%) 13% of women and 8% of men pointed to the unequal division of domestic labor as a factor for having fewer kids than they wanted. And the survey found that one in four felt unable to have a child at their preferred time.
So how does this get fixed? I’m going to tell you what this UN report suggests in a second, but lots of countries are pushing all kinds of baby boom schemes. President Trump floated the idea of a baby bonus…but that never really materialized. Instead congress added those trump savings accounts to the Big Beautiful bill where the US government will kick in $1000 dollars to a new savings account for certain kids who are born between 2025 and 2028 – not that one-thousand dollars is really going to solve this fertility crisis in this country. In fact the UN report specifically says baby bonuses are ineffective.
Instead – the report says governments worldwide should expand parental choices by removing barriers to parenthood….things like making parenthood more affordable through investments in housing, “decent” work, paid parental leave and access to comprehensive reproductive health services. When it comes to that pesky problem of unequal division of domestic labor – meaning keeping the household running — the report suggests governments should address things like — the stigma against involved fathers, workplace norms that push mothers out of the workforce, restrictions on reproductive rights and here’s an interesting one that the podcasters in this country may want to pay attention to – the report says the governments should address the widening gender gap in attitudes among younger generations that are contributing to more people not being able to find a mate and remaining single.
UN World Population Report here.
CDC latest birthrate/fertility numbers here.
