Brooklen Farley decided during college that she did not want to have children.
Her decision comes as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta finds a marked break in when young adults become parents. Among 26-year-old Gen Zers, 26% had at least one child. At the same age, the figure was 47% for millennials, 50% for Gen Xers and 46% for boomers.
The analysis was conducted by Julie Hotchkiss, a research economist at the Atlanta Fed. It drew on National Survey of Family Growth data through 2023 and accounted for education, partnership status and some health conditions.
Among the 26-year-olds surveyed, Gen Z differed from every earlier generation in the likelihood of having become a parent. Millennials, Gen Xers and boomers had each reached roughly half or more of their cohort becoming parents by that age. Gen Z reached it with 26% having at least one child, even after the analysis accounted for education and partnership status.
The researchers identified two main forces behind the gap: a dramatic decline in the desire for children among Gen Z, the youngest generation in the sample, and greater medical difficulty conceiving among women in every generation since the boomers.
At age 26, the average probability of impaired fecundity was 18% for Gen Z, compared with 10% for boomers at the same age.
For prospective parents, the financial calculation has also grown harder. Basic expenses for families supporting children, including housing, transportation and food, rose 60% between 2016 and 2024. Median family income rose 45% over the same period.
In 2016, households with children under 18 faced roughly $18,000 in additional annual expenses compared with households without children. By 2024, that additional cost had reached about $29,000, even after a $1,000 increase to the child tax credit. More than $6,000 of the increase, or about half, came from higher childcare costs.
LendingTree put the cost of raising a child over 18 years at $303,418 after tax exemptions and credits, or about $17,000 a year.
Concern about family costs has also risen. In 2023, 33% of respondents named costs among the most important issues facing families; by 2025, 49% did so.
Half of adults under 30 lived with a parent in 2025, up twelve points since 2019. Census Bureau researchers found that the parental co-residence rate among adults aged 25 to 34 rose from just over 11% in 2005 to 16% in 2023. Only 66% of adults aged 18 to 29 said they were doing okay or living comfortably, compared with 84% of adults 60 and older.
The US fertility rate has fallen to 1.6, below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to maintain the population without immigration. The Congressional Budget Office projects that population growth will slow to zero in 2056.
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