- Fifty-three percent of U.S. adults told Pew researchers this year that having fewer children would have an adverse effect on the country, up six percentage points from a 2024 poll. Men and Republicans are more concerned about falling birth rates than women and Democrats are.
- Fifty-six percent say that the federal government should not encourage people to have more children. About one-third of adults, however, say the government should have a role in that area.
- Those who are in favor of the government being involved in raising the birth rate generally support increasing tax credits for parents, giving paid family leave and free childcare, and covering fertility treatments in health insurance plans.
A majority of Americans — across political ideologies and various demographics — think that fewer people having children will negatively impact the U.S., a Pew Research Center report recently found.
Pew discovered that the share of U.S. adults who say that fewer children would have an adverse effect on the country now stands at 53%, up six points from its 2024 poll. Men are most likely to have concerns about falling birth rates, with nearly six in 10 saying fewer people having children would have a “very” or “somewhat” negative impact. Almost five in 10 women say the same.
The share of Democrats and Democrat-leaning people who agreed fewer children would not be ideal also increased between 2024 and 2025, from 37% to 44%. Republicans and Republican-leaning people experienced a smaller shift, going from 60% last year to 63% in 2025.
The majority of Americans (56%) also think that the federal government should not have any role in encouraging people to have children. However, about one-third of U.S. adults say that the government should play either a major or minor role in raising the birth rate.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be opposed to the government encouraging more births. Pew also found that women in both political parties are more likely than men to object to the government’s involvement.
Pew asked those who said the government should play some kind of role in supporting more births to rate policies that could help encourage people to have children. Most respondents favored giving parents more tax credits (82%), while a large majority wanted employers to be required to provide paid family leave (75%). Other policies that performed well included free child care and covering fertility treatment in health insurance plans.
While Republicans and Democrats felt similarly about more tax credits for parents, Pew found that Democrats were at least 18 percentage points more likely to support paid family leave, free child care, covered fertility treatments, and monthly stipends for parents of minor children.
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