US Birth Rate Falls to Lowest Level on Record in 2025

Friday, April 10, 2026

The rate is down about 1% from 2024 and nearly 20% lower than it was two decades ago.

Posted by LampLighter at 05:33 PM | 8 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

The Heritage Foundation is torn between being gleeful that public schools are losing money and being apoplectic about the declining (white) birth rate www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026 ...

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-- Josh Cowen (@joshcowenmi.bsky.social) Mar 16, 2026 at 3:28 PM

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More from the article ...

... The fertility rate in the United States has been trending down for decades, and new federal data shows that another drop last year brought the rate down to the lowest on record.

About 3.6 million babies were born in the US in 2025, according to provisional data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 53 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. That rate is down about 1% from 2024 and nearly 20% lower than it was two decades ago.

A pronatalist movement has gained momentum under the Trump administration, buoyed by policy moves geared toward encouraging people to have more children.

Experts generally agree that a falling fertility rate can have real consequences -- particularly related to the economy -- but say it's important to understand the reasons behind the decline before trying to change it. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-04-10 04:30 PM | Reply

About 9% of U.S. births in 2023 were to unauthorized or temporary legal immigrant mothers

In 2023, mothers who were unauthorized immigrants or had legal temporary status in the U.S. had 320,000 babies, representing about 9% of all 3.6 million babies born in the U.S. that year. About 260,000 of those babies would not have qualified for birthright citizenship if Trump's executive order had already been in effect. This includes:

About 245,000 babies born to mothers who were unauthorized immigrants and fathers who were not citizens or lawful permanent residents
About 15,000 babies born to mothers who had legal temporary status and fathers who were not citizens or lawful permanent residents

www.pewresearch.org

#2 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-04-10 04:54 PM | Reply

It's too expensive to have kids.

Welcome to end stages capitalism.

#3 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-04-10 04:57 PM | Reply

Besides. Why do we need poor people having kids when AI will take care of all the needs of the Epstein Class.

#4 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-04-10 04:58 PM | Reply

This is also post the end of Roe v Wade.

Seems like banning abortions and forcing women to give birth hasn't increased birth rates.

But it has resulted in a lot more dead women due to easily resolvable pregnancy complications.

MAGA!!!!

#5 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-04-10 05:00 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

"End-stage" or late-stage capitalism is widely considered a driver of declining birth rates, as high costs of living, intense economic precarity, and demanding work cultures make raising children financially and logistically challenging. This systemic pressure often results in couples having fewer children than they desire due to the prioritization of career, lack of time, and high expenses.

#6 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-04-10 05:03 PM | Reply

Having kids is too expensive for most people to be able to afford it.

This is the fifty years in the making generational impact of trickle down.

Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.

When those gains were more evenly distributed, like when most of us were born, it meant more people could afford to start a family.

#7 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-04-10 06:42 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

- Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.

That's about the last time companies paid a living wage. It wasn't much, but enough to live... unlike now.

Rwing Republicans wanted Revenge for Nixon... and all those war profits they lost when the People forced the issue on Vietnam and Nixon.

They vowed it would never happen again, and allied with the Oligarchs in a Plan to get power again and keep it. Which they did by dividing voters on social issues as more important than democracy and economic questions.

They gave us Reaganism and SC rulings like CU. And the Tea Party and Project25.

And the Worst President in History... Twice.

#8 | Posted by Corky at 2026-04-10 07:44 PM | Reply