U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low of 53.1 Births per 1,000 Women in 2025

S. 8 the previous year, according to National Center for Health Statistics data released in April. 1 births per woman.

The Trump administration proposed a new rule on May 10 to expand employer-offered fertility benefits through a category of limited excepted benefits. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act established tax-advantaged savings accounts for children called Trump Accounts. gov website on May 10 to provide preconception health information and materials on fertility awareness-based methods.

“We now have a fertility rate officially of 1.57, and that’s down from 1920…it was at 3.26. It’s way below the replacement rate which is 2.1." — HHS Rapid Response, May 11, 2026 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz stated during a May 11 White House event that part of the U.S. population is “underbabied.” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the declining birth rate as an “existential crisis” that poses a threat to the economy and national security. Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Emma Waters linked the drop to smartphone use, social media, abortion policy since 1973, and falling marriage rates. Cato Institute Policy Analyst Chelsea Follett said direct government payments have produced only modest results abroad and recommended deregulation to lower family costs instead.”

The average cost of raising a child to age 18 reached $303,418 in 2024 after tax adjustments, according to a LendingTree analysis. 8 percent between 2000 and 2009 before stabilizing near 660 deaths annually. The Office of Population Affairs issued a Title X funding notice for 2027 that includes services addressing infertility for men and women.

An HHS spokesperson said the agency will also conduct a MAHA education campaign focused on health and fertility for those planning families.