American liberals are increasingly opting out of parenthood while conservatives continue to build larger families, a divergence that new research suggests is reshaping the nations demographic and cultural future.
According to The Post Millennial, data from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) show that conservatives now average 1.4 children, compared to just 1.09 among self-identified liberals. The gap is not merely anecdotal: 51 percent of liberals report having no children at all, versus 40 percent of conservatives, based on a survey of 7,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 54.
Researchers found the disparity remained statistically significant even after controlling for sex, religion, race, income, age, marital status, and education. Those that are liberal are more likely to cite "certain anxieties related to fertility decisions relative to conservatives," the report from IFS states.
The ideological divide persists even when respondents are asked about their ideal family size, regardless of how many children they currently have. Conservatives on average say that the ideal family size is 2.71 children, moderates say 2.43, while liberals on average want 2.16 on average.
Beyond numbers, the reasons liberals give for avoiding parenthood reveal a deeper cultural and psychological split. Liberals are more likely to cite mental health, bad genetics, and the stress of being a parent for reasons that they do not want to have children.
When it came to mental health, 18 percent of liberals said that was a concern versus 10 percent of conservatives. As the IFS report noted, "18% of liberals are unsure whether they would be a good parent, compared to only 9% of conservatives. Similarly, whereas 36% of liberals view parenting as 'very complicated, difficult, and stressful,' only 24% of conservatives do," the report from IFS stated.
The study also observes that this partisan gap in fertility ideals has widened only since the mid-1990s, suggesting a relatively recent and accelerating ideological divergence. The report noted that the partisan gap has only grown after 1994, meaning that the ideological divide over how many kids to have is a recent phenomenon.
Against this backdrop, President Trumps second administration has positioned itself firmly on the side of a pro-family, pro-natal culture. The Trump administration has taken the position of being pro-family even as there has been a drop in fertility rates across the country.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha have urged Americans to have more children as they themselves have welcomed their fourth child while Vance is in office. Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also been open about having another baby has announced that she's leaving her position to raise her children.
On the other side of the political divide, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently ended her long-term engagement and publicized her process of freezing her eggs in an attempt to preserve her waning fertility. The 37-year-old made a series of social media videos about the process of egg harvesting and the associated costs but did not indicate whether or not or when she may decide to have children.
In addition to the image of the administration being more pro-family, policy choices have been aimed at incentivizing childbearing. Trump signed an executive order to expand IVF access and the "Trump accounts" have been introduced to invest in the future of the next generation of children.
Login