The economy is moving us back into the 19th century as fertility rates plunge
The economy is hitting younger generations—hard. Millennials and Gen Zers face sky-high mortgage rates, soaring home prices and inflation, and it’s slowing some traditional, or otherwise historic, milestones like having a child.
Indeed, women are starting families later and having fewer children—with some forgoing starting a family altogether, according to a report released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the most staggering statistic in the report is that the U.S. total fertility rate hit a record low in 2023, falling to 1.62 births per woman. That’s well below the “replacement rate,” or the number of births needed to meet the number of older generations, of 2.1 births.
“For the first time in our nation’s history, a 30-year-old man or woman isn’t doing as well as his or her parents were at 30. That is the social compact breaking down,” Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said in a recent interview with Morning Joe. Only 27% of adults ages 30-to-34 have one child, he said, but in 1990 that percentage was 60%.
