Why Are American Women ‘Underbabied’?
Originally published in The Hill on July 5, 2026.
Last month, Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, called American women “underbabied” in response to new data that showed the U.S. at its lowest fertility rate ever: just under 1.6 births per woman, below population-replacement levels.
He joined a storm of politically diverse pundits who have offered their own explanations for women’s reluctance to have more children. These include women’s education and employment and consequent “woke” values; the widespread availability of contraception and abortion; exaggerated faith in egg freezing and IVF as solutions; fertility-damaging environmental exposures and poor health; anxiety about the climate, economic, political, and social unraveling; and even social isolation fueled by smartphones.