It seems that every few weeks there’s a new round of headlines about birth rates. Why are they declining? Is it a crisis? And whose fault is it?
I always struggle with whether or how to include this news in this newsletter about women’s careers and lives. Sometimes, coverage of declining birth rates can be simplistic—without acknowledgment of the multitude of factors that go into the individual choice of whether or not to have a child. And, of course, women are often blamed for what is sometimes framed as the impending fall of civilization. Talk of declining birth rates can ignore the ways in which the data reveals positive change for women—from women’s increased ability to choose their life path to the decline of teen pregnancies.
So I was really interested to see a new take on declining birth rates today from none other than the Nobel-winning economist Claudia Goldin. (Known for both winning the Nobel and helping WNBA players secure their latest contract.) Often, women’s growing independence is cited as the root of birth rate free-falls. Women are selfish, pundits argue, prioritizing their careers and personal happiness over having families. It’s a global problem, with variations on the same narrative from Japan to the U.S., where the Trump administration has suggested everything from “baby bonuses” to reserving Fulbright slots for candidates who are married with children. Since 2007, the number of Americans having babies has dropped 23%; the U.S. birth rate hit record low in 2025.
