(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
The U.S. birthrate is falling, for many reasons : Consider This from NPR : NPR [1]
[]
Date: 2025-07-08
The U.S. birth rate is falling fast. Why? It's complicated
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images
The total fertility rate is a small number with big consequences.
It measures how many babies, on average, each woman will have over her lifetime. And for a population to remain stable - flat, no growth, no decline - women, on average, have to have 2.1 kids.
In the U.S., that number is 1.6, and dropping. It's driving a new political debate about what – if anything – can be done about it.
The thing is, beneath that demographic data point are millions of families making intimate decisions about kids. NPR's Sarah McCammon and Brian Mann dug into the politics and personal stories behind America's shrinking birthrate.
Sponsor Message
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at
[email protected].
This episode was produced by Sarah Ventre, Liz Baker, Noah Caldwell and Connor Donevan with audio engineering by Simon-Laslo Janssen. It was edited by Megan Pratz, Andrea de Leon and Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/08/1255321728/us-birth-rate-is-falling-fast-for-many-reasons
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
