Fears that falling birth rates in US could lead to population collapse are based on faulty assumptions

Photo credit: Victor de Dompablo via Pexels. Article by Leslie Root, Karen Benjamin Guzzo and Shelley Clark. The Conversation – July 25, 2025.

Pronatalism – the belief that low birth rates are a problem that must be reversed – is having a moment in the U.S. As birth rates decline in the U.S. and throughout the world, voices from Silicon Valley to the White House are raising concerns about what they say could be the calamitous effects of steep population decline on the economy. The Trump administration has said it is seeking ideas on how to encourage Americans to have more children as the U.S. experiences its lowest total fertility rate in history, down about 25% since 2007. […]

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