U.S. Fertility Declining… Does it Matter?

The story

Americans are having fewer children, and researchers are starting to tease out why.

A lot of it has to do with economics and policy.

According to CNN:

“The falling birth rate has some experts worried that America will be left with too few people of working age to support its burgeoning elderly population — both by paying into programs like Social Security and by filling jobs in fields such as health care and home assistance.”

The details

The U.S. fertility rate has been declining since the 1980s, and is currently the lowest it’s been in 30 years.

The New York Times commissioned a survey asking people about their reproductive choices.

Of the people who said they “had or expected to have fewer children than they considered ideal,” the primary reason was because child care is too expensive. Other top reasons included concerns about the economy, financial instability, and insufficient paid family leave.

The U.S. is one of only four countries in the world that don’t mandate paid maternity leave, although California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have paid family leave laws. Fifty-six percent of companies in the U.S. offer maternity leave, and of those, 6 percent provide full pay during that leave.

Indebtedness, particularly among Americans of child-bearing age, is growing. Credit card debt in the U.S. surpassed $1 trillion this year, while student debt reached $1 trillion six years ago. 

Meanwhile, recent research found that fertility rates are declining most quickly in areas with higher home values.

Immigration has provided a buffer in the U.S. against some of the more negative effects of declining birth rates that other developed countries have been experiencing, but immigrants’ birth rate is now dropping at twice the rate of the native-born population.

Does it matter?

Foreign Policy notes:

“A population that fails to replace itself means a growing elderly population sustained by a shrinking workforce, creating social anxiety, economic troubles, and a general sense of cultural malaise.”

Many people make the argument that declining fertility is a good thing overall for a planet that is already ecologically strained by a ballooning human population.

Still others note that while falling birth rates can have negative societal repercussions, these can be mitigated by “policies that focus on increasing productivity and labor force growth and that address growing fiscal imbalances.”

What do you think?

Do you think the declining birth rate in the U.S. is a problem? If so, what policy remedies do you think would help? Hit Take Action to tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / vasiliki)