When COVID-19 first began spreading around the world, and cities went into lockdown, many people joked that keeping couples cooped up in their homes would lead to a baby boom.
Instead, the opposite happened: a baby bust. Nine months into the pandemic data confirmed such an event did not occur. While there did end up being a small bump in births in 2021, which was the first major reversal in declining domestic fertility rates since 2007, a substantial decline followed and has been sustained ever since. In May 2023, Brookings reported that birth rates were below 2019 levels again.
