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U.S. fertility rate reaches new low as more women delay motherhood
The U.S. general fertility rate fell 1% in 2025, reaching its lowest level on record, federal data show. Births among women in their 30s and early 40s rose, partly offsetting steeper declines among younger women.
The U.S. general fertility rate fell 1% in 2025 to its lowest level on record, as fewer women in their teens and 20s gave birth and rates among women over 30 continued to rise, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The decline continues a two-decade trend of fewer births. Among women ages 20 to 24, the birth rate dropped 6% in 2025; among teenagers in their late teens, it fell 7%, said Brady Hamilton, a demographer with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and a co-author of the report.
The picture is different for older age groups: birth rates among women ages 30 to 45 increased, the CDC data show. Philadelphia physician Tanise Branche, who leads labor and delivery at Temple Health, said some patients are choosing to build careers and establish greater stability before having children. Branche, who began her own reproductive journey at 37, is pregnant with her fourth child at 43.
For some younger women, having children is not a priority; for others, the cost and uncertainty of family life make it harder to decide. A Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta study released in September found that Gen Z women are less likely than women in earlier generations to say they want children. It pointed to factors including expanded work opportunities and personal agency, financial pressures, shifting priorities and concerns about maternal mortality.
Sarah Harris, of Vermont, had her daughter at 37. She was laid off four months after the birth and said the cost of raising a child helped lead her to decide that one child was enough. “I think we're in a difficult societal moment and so that's absolutely affecting people's reproductive choices,” she said.
Some experts say people who want children may have fewer than they hope because of costs and inadequate support, including affordable housing, child care and health insurance. The number of U.S. children under 18 has also been declining: the Census Bureau counted more than 1 million fewer children in that age group in 2020 than in 2010.
The population shift is visible in places such as Vermont, where Harris worries about the future of her small community’s elementary school. The Census Bureau reported that the nation’s median age reached 39.4 in 2025, while some states, including Vermont, have experienced population declines.
The CDC report measures births, not the reasons individuals choose whether or when to become parents. But the figures show how decisions shaped by changing priorities, economic constraints and access to support are contributing to a shrinking share of younger residents and an aging population.