Family
Across all age groups, 63% of Americans held that view, up from 59% in August 2025. Only 16% believed it was a good time, while 21% were unsure.

Nearly three-quarters of Gen Z adults believe now is a bad time to have children, according to a new national survey, as the U.S. birth rate continues its long-term decline.

The SSRS Economic Attitudes Tracker, released Thursday, found that 71% of Gen Z adults and 70% of millennials considered the current economic environment unfavorable for having a child.

Across all age groups, 63% of Americans held that view, up from 59% in August 2025. Only 16% believed it was a good time, while 21% were unsure. The findings follow the release of final federal birth statistics showing that the country's general fertility rate reached a record low in 2025.

The CDC's final 2025 birth statistics recorded 3,612,012 births, down from 3,628,934 in 2024. The general fertility rate fell 1% to 53.2 births for every 1,000 women ages 15 to 44.

Birth rates declined 6% among women ages 20 to 24 and 4% among those ages 25 to 29. For teenagers ages 15 to 19, the rate dropped 7% to a record low of 11.7 births per 1,000.

Older women followed a different pattern. Rates increased 3% among those ages 30 to 34, 2% for women ages 35 to 39 and 1% among those ages 40 to 44, indicating a continued shift toward later parenthood.

Read more

The longer-term demographic implications are significant. In its national population projections, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that deaths could begin exceeding births by 2038 under one of its scenarios.

The projections, published in 2023, suggest the population could reach approximately 370 million in 2080 before declining to 366 million by 2100, although future immigration, fertility and life expectancy could alter that trajectory.

International migration is expected to become the country's primary source of population growth as the population ages. Financial concerns may help explain the pessimism surrounding parenthood.

The SSRS survey found that four in five Americans were at least moderately worried about rising living costs, including 41% who were very worried. Nearly two-thirds, or 64%, rated the national economy as bad or very bad, up seven percentage points from June and 11 points from October 2025.

Conducted Oct. 1–4 among 1,033 U.S. adults, the survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for the full sample. However, it measured whether respondents believed the present was a good time to have children, not whether they personally intended to become parents.

Separate research indicates that financial pressures are only one consideration in decisions about family size. A Pew Research Center study published in July 2024 found that 36% of adults younger than 50 who were unlikely ever to have children cited affordability as a major reason.

A larger share, 57%, said they simply did not want children, while 44% preferred to focus on other priorities, including careers and personal interests. Concerns about the state of the world were cited by 38%.

That research specifically examined adults without children who considered themselves unlikely to become parents, rather than the broader population surveyed by SSRS.

Sustained low fertility can also affect the economy by reducing the share of younger workers relative to retirees, increasing pressure on retirement systems and healthcare spending.

Under the Census Bureau's main projection, Americans ages 65 and older would account for 29.1% of the population by 2100, compared with 16.4% for children younger than 18. The bureau also projected that older adults would outnumber children as early as 2029.