The global population may be booming, but the birth rate in the U.S. has been in something of a free fall for quite a while now; in 2021, it dropped to its lowest point in more than 100 years. A new study published in the Population and Development Review is attempting to make sense of why Americans are having less kids — and their findings may be surprising.
Researchers found that over several decades, young people actually haven’t wavered in the number of kids they want to have (two); but instead, they may be delaying when they have them or ultimately not following through on those initial parenthood desires for other reasons.
