America’s birth rate has plunged to its lowest level ever, with the CDC reporting fewer than 1.6 children per woman in 2024.
Federal health data released Thursday showed the U.S. fertility rate has continued its decades-long decline, dropping to 1.599 and falling even further below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman needed for each generation to maintain its size, according to The Associated Press.
Notably, the U.S. total fertility rate hovered around 3.5 during the 1960s before dropping significantly to 1.7 by the 1970s, marking the end of the Baby Boom.
The decrease marks the second consecutive year of decline, following a brief pandemic-era uptick, and brings American fertility trends closer to those seen across Western Europe, with the fertility rate in 2023 at 1.621, according to The AP.
CDC figures indicate that birth rates have decreased for women aged 15 to 34, while rates for women aged 35 to 39 remained steady, and there was a modest increase among women aged 40 to 44, as reported by The Hill.
Officials from the CDC have claimed that this overall drop is due to a change in the U.S. population, with the total population of women of childbearing age growing due to immigration, per NBC News.
Leslie Root, a University of Colorado Boulder researcher specializing in fertility and population policy, offered a similar perspective and stated that there is currently no reason to be concerned.
“We’re seeing this as part of an ongoing process of fertility delay. We know that the U.S. population is still growing, and we still have a natural increase — more births than deaths,” she explained, per The Associated Press.
However, the shift below the replacement rate has seemingly sparked concern throughout the White House, with the Trump Administration recently devising a plan to promote more births in the U.S., as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
These plans included an idea pitched to the administration that would provide roughly $5,000 to every American mother who gives birth, though it is unclear whether these plans are moving forward.