Most Americans say cost is limiting how many kids they have, survey finds
Seven in 10 respondents said they believe raising children is too expensive, a notable jump from 2024, according to an annual public opinion survey on U.S. family life.
November 14, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. ESTToday at 6:00 a.m. EST
Most Americans think raising children is unaffordable, with finances as the major factor in determining family size,
a new report found.
Seven in 10 respondents said they believe raising children is too expensive — a 13-percentage-point jump from last year, according to the American Family Survey, which tracks public opinion about family life in the United States annually.
This year was the first time in the survey’s 11-year run that Americans said finances were the top reason they capped, or planned to cap, the size of their family. They cited it twice as often as any other factor, researchers said, mirroring nationwide concerns about rising costs.
The results, released Friday, are a key signal of how finances are shaping Americans’ decisions about whether to have children, and if they do, when and how many. The country’s birth rate stood at 1.6 children per woman in 2024 — up less than 1 percent from the previous year’s historic low.
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