Low Birth Rates are Here to Stay—Until Our Economy Works for Everyone

A "Manhattan Project" to raise birth rates? That's the latest effort from the Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025. Despite evidence that "depopulation" is neither imminent nor devastating, worries about an impending population collapse are fueling efforts to address record-low birth rates in the U.S. Many commentators blame people—usually women—for being selfish and rejecting parenthood.

But these opinions miss the mark when it comes to understanding today's low birth rates.

It's not that people are rejecting parenthood or deciding never to have another child. In fact, people's general ideas about the ideal number of children to have are at an all-time high. Instead, it seems people are waiting longer to have a child, and in some cases, not having any children. And even among those who have children, waiting longer to become parents could mean having fewer children than they initially wanted.