U.S. Fertility Just Hit a 30 Year Low

[Ohiogal]

"Births in the U.S. fell to a multi-decade low last year, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics released this week. The provisional estimate shows 3.85 million births in the U.S. in 2017, the lowest tally since 1987, and an overall fertility rate of 1.76 births per woman, the lowest since 1978."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/us-fertility-just-hit-a-30-year-low-why-thats-a-problem-for-social-security/ar-AAxrAVk?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=mailsignout

I wonder if Draconian family leave policies, stagnant wages, unaffordable health insurance, and skyrocketing child care costs has anything to do with this?

[X_Digger]

1. Good. n/t

[enough]

7. +1. NT

[we can do it]

19. Another +1

[ginny skinny]

2. I'd be terrified to bring a child into the USA/world the Trump administration hopes to usher in.

NRA calling for "second amendment solutions", Daddy Vlad working to sow social disruption in USA. No way would I want to bring a kid into these very uncertain times. All the horrible things you see on the news in other countries could happen here faster than most people realize.

[wonkwest]

3. Millennials simply cannot afford them

A bit hard to reproduce when you're still living with mom and dad or have four other roommates. A lot of my friends are hedging forty before they make the decision.

[meadowlander]

10. Yep.

I just bought my first house at 41 and still have $25,000 in student loans to pay off. Thanks Global Financial Crisis!

[Amishman]

24. Yup, most of my friends are in their mid 30s and only starting families now

Took them a decade to start careers and get student loans under control. I doubt any will have more than one or two kids, too expensive.

[treestar]

4. Wonder if the Dotard has an effect

and it will go back up when he is gone.

[Blue_true]

5. Yeah, pretty tough for people to get frisky after looking at that hair and face. nt

[Ohiogal]

6. Best birth control ever! LOL

[roamer65]

8. This is a good thing for Planet Earth.

It needs to go much lower WORLDWIDE.

One is enough.

[jes06c]

11. Agreed

And really, if Americans are going to continue to resist green energy, mass transportation, and climate change agreements, then something will have to give. If Americans refuse to change their lifestyles, then the birthrate will need to adjust accordingly.

[ansible]

13. It already is, only Lat-Am, Africa and South-East Asia has high birthrates now

[jes06c]

9. Expect conservatives to blame this on the usual suspects

Declining church attendance. Secularism. Americans being selfish.

They've probably convinces themselves that family leaves, wages, health insurance, and child care has nothing to do it. It's those no good atheists, corrupting the young generation! Oh yeah, and probably the gays too.

[Mariana]

12. If only they could force children to pray in public school!

That would solve everything.

[jes06c]

23. My parents fell for that, sadly

My younger sister was having trouble in public school, was falling in with the wrong crowd, and getting poor grades. Evangelical Christian school to the rescue! Three years and thousands of dollars in tuition later later she was hanging out with an even worse crowd, making C's and D's, and she got expelled at the end of 11th grade for sneaking a bottle of vodka into a hotel room during a class field trip to Washington DC. Finally my father saw the light and convinced my mother to put her in the public school for 12th grade. So it turns out opening each day with prayer and mandatory Bible classes didn't magically fix my sister.

[MariaCSR]

16. They'll blame the gays, too.

[hatrack]

18. Don't forget the Big Three - defunding PBS, NPR and Amtrak

Then just watch the national debt evaporate as GDP and the birth rate soar!

[SoCalDem]

14. College debt + unaffordable rent + reliable birth control

= people marrying later, and waiting so long to try for kids, their fertility at 35+ is not what it was at 21-25..One of my daughters in law has been trying for years, and so far..no luck even with in vitro..

They would have been fantastic parents

[vercetti2021]

15. Simply can't afford it

I'm nearly 28, I work a ton but it isn't enough to live on my own and I despise the idea of living with roommates. Plus relationships are not for me anyway, to many trust issues I have with people. If I ever have a kid, it could be a step kid. That's enough for me.

[uponit7771]

20. +1, France is at nearly 2.1 while the other countries that are too expensive to afford kids is falli

... falling sharp.

Japan is at 1.4 and number one reason is love is expensive

[vercetti2021]

25. Love is indeed expensive

Love is good from family and friends. But love is something that doesn't interest me strongly.

[Le Gaucher]

17. We struggled to have kids.. it was 8 years into our marriage

When we had given up hope and looking at surrogacy and adoption when my wife got pregnant a month after I wished for a baby at the the Trevi fountain.

It was a miracle of miracles. My wife was 39 with one blocked tube and I had low sperm count. My daughter is the Joy of our lives. And her first president is "Rock Obama". ( She couldn't pronounce Barrack) .

[quartz007]

27. Very glad you were blessed with a daughter

Very similar situation in our case, wife was 37 and I was 50 at marriage. Surprise surprise she got pregnant and we were thrilled. We refused the amnio-synthesis test since we decided we would welcome the child regardless of any potential problems. The baby was healthy although 3 weeks premature. She just graduated from law school a few months ago!

[brooklynite]

21. European birth rates...

Country Population (2016) Total fertility rate (2015)
European Union 510,056,011 1.58
Germany 82,162,000 1.50
France 66,759,950 1.96
United Kingdom 65,341,183 1.80

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_European_Union

[spooky3]

28. Thank you.

[FSogol]

22. The Trump effect!

[quartz007]

26. Booze & dope suppresses libido

and sperm production and quality of female eggs as well.

I recall reading somewhere in a report that sperm counts of American males are significantly lower compared to after WWII.