A record 5.7 million more American women of “prime childbearing age” were child-free in 2024 than was expected based on historical trends.
This is a significant increase on the previous figures of 2.1 million in 2016 and 4.7 million in 2022.
Researchers from the University of New Hampshire who investigated the rise said it reflects deeper, systemic shifts in how women view motherhood, family and fulfillment.
Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer and professor of sociology at the college, analyzed nearly two decades of census and health data to uncover the dramatic demographic change.
He discovered that fewer young women are having children, with the resulting decline in fertility reshaping the country’s population trajectory. In the past 17 years, the U.S. has experienced 11.8 million fewer births than anticipated.
“In 2024, there were four million more women aged 20–39 than in 2006, but seven million fewer have given birth—that’s an increase of 45 percent,” Johnson said in a statement.
While childlessness has increased across age groups, Johnson’s research found that the trend is most pronounced among women under 30.
Fertility rates among women in their early 30s declined only minimally and actually rose modestly for those aged 35 to 49. But the gains among older women are nowhere near enough to counter the sharp falloff in younger generations.
Johnson’s analysis, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey from 2006 to 2024 and fertility data from the National Center for Health Statistics, points to a tangle of social, economic and cultural forces driving the shift.
The Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted life milestones, but deeper changes—such as rising household costs, limited childcare access, and evolving ideas about gender roles and lifestyle pathways—have accelerated the trend.
Child-Free Women Open Up
For some women, the choice to remain child-free is not just practical but also tied to their deeper emotions and desires.
Katherine Bird, 49, told Newsweek that she views her decision not to have children as liberating and purposeful.
“It feels like a privilege not to have children,” Bird, who is based in New Mexico, said. “Even though I know it can be a fulfilling path, I have also seen how hard it is, how much burden is placed on the mother physically, emotionally, energetically and financially.”
Bird, a spiritual and somatic practitioner, said she sees her life as self-directed and fulfilling.
“I get to live it exactly as I want, without worrying about the serious task of raising a good person in a hard world,” she said. “I am able to focus on my expressions, purpose and personal meaning. I get to help a lot of people that I might not have been able to.”
Bird also acknowledged the societal pressure many women face to know what they want, and to have children by a certain age.
“I know there is a social stigma because women tell me about it all the time,” Bird said. “I get comments trying to tell me that I’m not really happy or that I will regret it.”
Still, she believes the tide is turning.
“Women are ready for a new way forward that creates more supportive and caring environments, allowing them to make their own choices,” Bird said.
“Right now, it feels like motherhood is a burden of a single human fighting against the world when it should be a community priority to raise healthy and happy humans.”
Among younger women, the sense of autonomy is equally strong, albeit shaped by a different set of cultural signals.
One woman in her late 20s, who posts on TikTok as @thesugarhours, told Newsweek she is focused on building a life on her “own terms.”
“Watching both mothers and non-mothers navigate life taught me that motherhood wasn’t the only way to feel fulfilled,” the woman, who wants to keep her full identity private, said.
She also pointed to persistent stigmas—especially those that linger in professional settings.
“I’ve watched eyerolls when a mum leaves early to pick up her sick kid, and I’ve felt the subtle, yet awkward questions aimed at women without kids,” she added.
“It’s important to have an open discussion, to call out unfair treatment and remind people there’s more than one way to build a life.”
For her, the decision to stay child-free, for now, is deeply intentional.
“Right now, I love the freedom to dive into work I care about, take on creative projects, travel, and volunteer according to my own schedule,” she said. “As my mom often tells me, having children is a huge responsibility, and if it isn’t a ‘hell yes,’ it should be a ‘hell no.'”
Fewer Adults Want Children
This sentiment is increasingly common, according to Jay Zigmont, Ph.D., a financial planner and founder of Childfree Wealth, a firm that specializes in serving clients who choose not to have children.
“Recent research by Pew found that in adults under 49 who don’t have kids, 47 percent don’t plan on having kids,” Zigmont told Newsweek.
When asked why, the top reason is simple: they don’t want to. That’s followed by concerns over finances, desire for personal freedom and environmental impacts, Zigmont said.
This rings true for Bird, who said that she has seen women feel lost in motherhood, other women observe the maternal struggles of their female family members and women who feel that society does not support mothers—even if it places pressure on women to assume that role.
“Despite the pressure, women are feeling more self-focused and confident to make different choices and choose different lives,” she said. “Women are ready for a new way forward that creates more supportive and caring environments so that they can decide what they want.”
Zigmont added: “Many child-free people may put even more thought into not having kids than parents put into having them, after all, having kids is the default choice in the standard life script, or the classic American Dream.”
He emphasized that despite stereotypes, choosing to be child-free is not necessarily easier—just different.
“Child-free people are not living an easier or better life, just a different one,” he said. “They are rethinking the American Dream, and the percent of the U.S. that is child-free will be reshaping our country and economy over the coming decades.”
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