According to the CDC’s preliminary 2025 birth data, US fertility continues to decline. Births are rising among older women, but falling faster among the young.
—CDC
The US total fertility rate (TFR) fell from 1.599 in 2024 to 1.574 in 2025. That’s a -1.6% decline and, once again, the lowest reading on record. If you exclude the 2021 blip, the TFR has fallen for the last ten years.
The teen birth rate fell -7.1%, hitting a record low of 11.7 births per 1,000 women. Birth rates among women in their 20s also declined. But for those 30 and older, rates ticked slightly higher.
This trend towards older moms has steadily accelerated over the last 30 years. But these gains are not large enough to offset declines among younger women. For an offset to be effective, we would have to see a significant rise in the birth rate of 30-to 34-year-olds. But we aren’t seeing that. The birth rate for this group is the same in 2025 as it was in 2004. Over age 35, the absolute numbers are simply too small to matter.
Source: Demography Unplugged
2 comments
Well since all the changes with health care and the over turning of Roe vs Wade not surprised at all.
I think this puzzles me. With the overturning of RvW, meaning that there are states that ban the procedure, wouldn't one expect there to be a bit of a rise in births and then maybe adoptions? I can't imagine that the rates of people having sex have declined.
I've seen more of a rise in the younger crowd just not interested in having kids. Neither of my children are at all interested, and I know several people whose kids are the same. That puzzles me as well.
The world is overpopulated the birth rate needs to be reduced.