In 2024, births in the US increased slightly to approximately 3.6 million, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This 1% uptick in births is part of a long-term trend that began around 2008 during the Great Recession. The preliminary data was released on Wednesday.
At least one demographer cautioned against extrapolating any conclusions on a pattern from the data, pointing out that rising US families continue to struggle with housing, childcare, and economic insecurity.
According to Hans-Peter Kohler, “there are still very fundamental changes in fertility and the family in the United States.”
The cost of housing and childcare, economic uncertainty, and shifting attitudes about the value of having children have all contributed to a fall in fertility in the US that “is transferred among diverse high-income nations, and I would hope that to continue,” Kohler continued.
A record low birth rate was recorded among teenage girls and young women, while women between the ages of 40 and 44 had an almost constant birth rate since 1985. Due to their higher birth rates, Asian and Hispanic women seem to be driving the number of births.
At the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, almost every birth was analyzed in 2024. The report expands upon preliminary data that was made public in March.
The modest one-year rise in the number of births seems to be mainly the result of Hispanic and Asian mothers, whose number of births increased 4% and 5%, respectively. Black women’s number of births fell 4%, American Indian and Alaska Native women’s fell 3%, and fewer than 1% for white women. There were no significant changes in birth rates for Native Hawaiian and Pacific islander women.
The reasons why Americans decide to have children were not covered in the CDC report. But there are several obstacles that increasing families in the US must overcome. With a lack of workers, exorbitant costs, and lengthy wait lists for young children, the US is experiencing a daycare crisis. However, by completely cutting off financing for Head Start, the Trump administration has suggested reducing schooling for even the most underprivileged kids in the country. The US government now makes relatively minimal investment in early childhood education as compared to peer-developed democracies.
However, close advisers like JD Vance, Elon Musk, and the “pro-natalist” movement are allegedly in favor of the Trump administration’s consideration of options to encourage more married heterosexual couples to have children.
He remarked that “one must undertake something truly substantial to achieve a deep stabilization or a substantial increase in fertility.” He explained that the challenges families face “are on a completely different scale than the policies currently under consideration by the administration.”
The impact of abortion restrictions on birth rates was not also covered in the paper. A Supreme Court ruling overturned the right to an abortion in 2022. Since then, twelve states—mostly in the Midwest and South—have completely outlawed abortion.
Despite the fact that tens of thousands of women traverse state boundaries to try to end pregnancies, some data indicates that birth rates and infant mortality have increased more than anticipated in states with restrictions.
