US Fertility Rate Finds a New Basement: CDC

America's baby bust isn't letting up, but it's not all doom and gloom. The CDC says the nation's fertility rate slipped to another low in 2025, with about 53 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, down from nearly 54 the year before—and roughly half the level seen a century ago, reports NBC News. Women in their 30s and early 40s are having more children, reflecting a shift in more women waiting for financial, educational, or career security, as well as marriage, before giving birth. That bump isn't offsetting declines among younger women, but it includes a 7% drop in teen births.

"That's been an explicit goal of US public health policy for three decades—to reduce teen birth rates," says Sarah Hayford, director of the Institute for Population Research at Ohio State University. "So that's a policy success." Teen births aside, how you perceive the overarching trend depends on your lens. Some conservatives and pro-natalist advocates warn of long-term economic and security risks and call for a new "baby boom," a goal President Trump shares. Demographers counter that fewer teen pregnancies and more delayed parenthood reflect policy gains, better contraception, and current financial realities that make an "18-year minimum commitment" feel harder to take on.