The overall fertility rate decline in the U.S. extends beyond just teenagers, Siegel noted.
“Dana, people are having kids in their 30s now, not their 20s,” he told the anchor. “And again, that’s leading to one thing I want to point out. The replacement rate is down to 1.56, meaning every couple is having, on average, 1.56 children in the United States. We need two or above to keep the population at the same amount.”
It’s actually a bit more than 2. About 2.07, IIRC.
EDIT: Though you’ll often see it rounded to 2.1.
EDIT2: Basically, at about the Great Recession (~2007), it took a major wallop and didn’t recover, and then kept declining through the COVID-19 era. My understanding from past reading is that it had been expected that the Great Recession would send it down — economic uncertainty causes fertility rates to drop — but the problem is that it didn’t rebound afterwards.
It’s actually a bit more than 2. About 2.07, IIRC.
EDIT: Though you’ll often see it rounded to 2.1.
EDIT2: Basically, at about the Great Recession (~2007), it took a major wallop and didn’t recover, and then kept declining through the COVID-19 era. My understanding from past reading is that it had been expected that the Great Recession would send it down — economic uncertainty causes fertility rates to drop — but the problem is that it didn’t rebound afterwards.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=US