I always knew I wanted to be a mother, and if you'd told me as a child that one day I would adopt two children over the age of ten I would have been astonished. I feel strongly that God gives us the children we were meant to have, though. I have LOVED being a mom. I wish I could have adopted or given birth to 2-3 more. Unfortunately, according to the CDC, the fertility rate here in the USA is at an all-time low. It has been declining for years but now, despite the heroic efforts of celebs like Nick Cannon and Elon Musk, and many pro basketball players, the sad fact remains: we ain't having enough babies, y'all.
This is the latest data, as of 2023, according to the CDC:
- 2023 birth rates
- declined for women ages 20–39 years
- were unchanged for females aged 10–14 and 40–49.
- The birth rate for teenagers aged 15–19 was down 3% in 2023 to 13.2 births per 1,000 women.
- The birth rate for women ages 20–24 (55.4) reached a record low.
According to the Pew Foundation:
"Among the cultural shifts affecting fertility rates, one of the more prominent changes has been Americans delaying or forgoing marriage. Women are marrying later in life, and birth rates for single women are less than half that of those who are married.19 Women are also delaying having children until later in life—part of the reason why fertility rates have dropped among women in their 20s, which has more than offset increases for women in their late 30s and 40s.20 A recent analysis by the Brookings Institution projected that for young women today, the average number of children they have over their lifetimes would fall compared with the average number for women in prior generations.21 A recent Pew Research Center survey found an increasing share of U.S. adults without children reporting they were unlikely to ever have children.22"
My son is 28 and he cannot afford his own home, much less the expense of getting married and having a family. Many in his age group [20-40] are choosing not to have children because of the expense, and a general fearfulness about the world, including climate change fears. I get it. Student loan debt is crushing. Childcare costs are enormous. Many cannot afford to buy homes. It makes me really sad to think that young people feel like they just cannot afford children, for whatever reason.
Worse, though, is that if we don't make new people, all ages will eventually suffer, as explained in this article from the Pew Charitable Foundation. We need new people to fund the tax base, to do important jobs, to advance science and technology. Speaking as a Baby Boomer, we need the youngsters to take care of us in our old age!
According to ABC News, we need youngsters because:
"They’ll not only staff the hospitals and nursing homes we’ll use in old age but also sustain the economy by funding our pensions when we retire, paying the taxes that finance Social Security, Medicare, and many other government programs we’ll rely on, and buying the homes and stocks we invested in to build our savings."
I feel strongly that my generation (Baby Boomers) needs to step up and help our young folks. Let them live at home. Help them with childcare. Loan them funds at no interest. Encourage them to view parenthood as a beautiful experience. My kids greatly benefited from having their Granny in their lives, in the same house, and I think it's part of why she lived to age 86. I would be happy to help if my son had a serious girlfriend or wife and they asked me to help in their parenthood journey. I am SO ready to be a memaw! Boomers, step up and get creative. Let's help our kids embark on the hardest job they'll ever love.
left, me as a baby, and my older brother
right, me and my kids and mother in 2007