Falling birth rates nationwide have resulted in 900,000 fewer births over the last five years, according to a recent report.
The 2023 State of Babies Yearbook was produced by the early education nonprofit Zero to Three. It leveraged demographic data from the research group Child Trends and surveys of families with young children conducted by the Stanford Center on Early Childhood.
“… 87 percent of parents with infants and toddlers say that addressing the needs of children and families should be either a top or important priority for Congress,” reads the report. Economic security and housing were at the forefront of most surveyed parents’ worries.
“The pandemic is over, but for millions of babies and their families, the state of emergency continues. Job losses and wage cuts still affect Americans every day, as they did before the pandemic,” noted Miriam Calderón, chief policy officer at Zero to Three.
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, consecutive years of declining birth rates were disrupted by a brief “COVID Baby Bump” in 2021. U.S.-born mothers under the age of 25 accounted for the 6.2% increase in new babies, which experts from the National Bureau of Economic Research attributed to remote work, fewer abortions, and increased feelings of financial security.
However, lingering economic uncertainty might be having a significant impact on long-term trends.
“People aren’t able to have the kids that they want. There’s a growing feeling that if you were to have kids, you really need to provide something for them. You have to do all these things to give your kids advantages because the world is really tough right now,” said sociologist Karen Benjamin Guzzo in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
The country’s declining birth rate could also have serious ramifications for various facets of society. For instance, the shrinking population of school-age children lowers enrollment numbers and shifts enrollment patterns for school districts that rely on per-student tax revenues.
Another long-term effect on society would include the worsening shortage of workers who can fill jobs in certain industries like health care and aviation.
Fewer births could also put a greater strain on Social Security and other taxpayer-funded programs. For instance, the Social Security Administration’s board of trustees projects there will only be 2.2 workers for every Social Security recipient by 2045, nearly two-thirds below the ratio clocked in 2000.
There could also be cultural implications. J.P. De Gance, president and founder of the nonprofit Communio, told the WSJ that declining birth and marriage rates are responsible for the decline in religiosity in the United States.
“When that’s diminished, the entire culture’s diminished,” he claimed.