This is the number of babies each woman needs to have to avoid human extinction—and the U.S. is nowhere close

Mother holding a baby in a diaper (Credit: Getty Images)

The global decline in birth rates has been a fraught topic for years, leaving some folks obsessed with ways to drive it up—including Elon Musk, who has fathered at least 14 children, admitted the fear of extinction keeps him awake at night, and who took to his X platform recently to warn, “Low birth rates will end civilization.” 

Now comes more bad news on that front: Human populations need at least 2.7 children per woman—a much higher fertility rate than the 2.1 previously believed—to reliably avoid long-term extinction.