Is student debt cited as a factor in declining US birth rates?
Increasing student debt is among the economic factors associated with declining birth rates. A 2015 study found that “student loans delay fertility for women, particularly at very high levels of debt” and that the loans “produce greater uncertainty in the pathway through education into family formation.” Mortgages and credit-card debt, by contrast, seem to be “precursors to parenthood,” providing access to material goods.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. birth rate has been declining steadily since 2007. Student debt, by contrast, has increased exponentially since then.
Future Family, a fertility-care company, found in a 2018 survey that half of the women owing student debt said it influenced their decision to have children. (Of the 1,000 childless women between 25 and 40 years old surveyed, 44% had debt.)
