Anna Louie Sussman examines global decline in birth rates
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 7
Anna Louie Sussman examines global decline in birth rates
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 7
In a New York Times opinion essay, she argues uncertainty about climate, politics, jobs and health helps explain falling births, including a roughly 23% US decline since 2007.
Sussman says the trend persists in Nordic countries, East Asia and France despite economic recovery, family benefits or greater gender equality, suggesting affordability alone does not explain delayed or foregone parenthood.
She illustrates the argument with a Los Angeles couple postponing children after fires, wildfire smoke and political fears, framing millennials and Gen Z as shaped by recession, pandemic and wider instability.
Is the global 'baby bust' a societal crisis, or a rational choice for a better quality of life?
As traditional family policies fail, could remote work be the unlikely solution to the declining birthrate?
Beyond anxiety, are invisible environmental toxins the true cause of the global fertility crisis?
Why the World’s Birth Rates Are Plummeting: Uncertainty, Economics, and the Future of Family
Overview
This report explores the global decline in birth rates, highlighting Anna Louie Sussman's argument that a deep sense of uncertainty shapes modern life and discourages people from having children. Older millennials and Gen Z, who have faced major world crises like the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, carry psychological and financial scars. These generations also confront new challenges, such as competing with artificial intelligence for jobs and relationships. The report shows how this ongoing uncertainty, rather than just economic factors, creates a climate where starting a family feels risky, leading to fewer births worldwide.