The United States had fewer babies again in 2025. The CDC says there were 3,606,400 births, down 1% from 2024. The general fertility rate also fell to 53.1 births for every 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. Teen births dropped even more sharply, reaching another record low. In short, the long decline in U.S. births is continuing. (cdc.gov)

Why is this happening? One big reason is money. In the U.S., child care is very expensive. The U.S. Department of Labor says families spend about 8.9% to 16.0% of their median income on full-day care for just one child. The Federal Reserve also found that parents who used paid child care in 2024 paid a median of about $960 a month, and heavier users paid about $1,400 a month. Housing is another problem: the Census Bureau reported that more than 21 million renter households spent over 30% of their income on housing in 2023. For many young adults, raising a child can feel financially risky. (blog.dol.gov)

But money is not the whole story. A 2024 Pew Research Center study found that 47% of U.S. adults under 50 without children said they were unlikely to ever have kids, up from 37% in 2018. Among these adults, 57% said a major reason was simply that they did not want children. Others said they wanted to focus on work or personal interests, worried about the state of the world, could not afford a child, or had not found the right partner. This suggests that modern family life is changing not only because of cost, but also because ideas about work, freedom, and happiness are changing. (pewresearch.org)

So, the falling U.S. birth rate is not a simple story. Young people are facing high living costs, expensive child care, and housing pressure. At the same time, many are making different life choices than earlier generations. For them, having a child is no longer the “normal next step.” It is a difficult decision shaped by both the economy and personal values. (cdc.gov)