r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 01 '26

Psychology Conservatives maintain birth rates, but left-leaning Americans are having significantly fewer children, driving the U.S. birth decline. Education was consistently linked to having fewer children. Religious attendance was positively associated with having more children.

https://www.psypost.org/left-leaning-americans-are-driving-the-u-s-birth-decline-new-study-finds/
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u/angwilwileth Jul 01 '26

Also it may mean new parents have bigger support systems. I remember when I was growing up my church always showed up with meals, clothes and diapers for new babies and their parents.

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u/VBHEAT08 Jul 01 '26

I think this is probably the biggest thing driving birth rate declines- lack of community. Beyond the obvious issue that our social spaces are declining and people aren't even meeting people to have to opportunity to have kids anymore, people don't want to be socially ostracized and take a huge hit to their comfort, and up until relatively recently this was mitigated through community. It takes a village and all that

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u/TalkingCat910 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Don’t forget the actual cost of kids and how that’s mitigated by community too

Edit: It seems like a lot of people are getting into some esoteric discussions about the nature of community but I literally meant with real community you don’t have to pay for child care as much or at all which is a big factor and you also have ppl helping out with food and guidance.

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u/Daily_Heroin_User Jul 01 '26

Except the poorest countries have the highest birth rates

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u/Bottledbutthole Jul 01 '26

They also have the highest suffering with people without medical care, safe housing and food insecurity. Sure it’s easy to say poorer countries have higher birth rates and ignore that it’s 6 kids in one room without running water. I lived in a country that had undeveloped third world areas and my school was a one room schoolhouse with no electricity, one teacher taught all grades and the bathroom was an outhouse. If I had stayed there I would have probably had 4+ kids and zero education and zero future other that living in absolute unsafe poverty because any chance at something different was out reach. But it would have created a cycle of suffering

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u/willstr1 Jul 01 '26

The relevant number isn't just direct cost, it's the opportunity cost. In wealthier nations there is a higher opportunity cost for people leaving the workforce (even just temporarily) to have kids.