Census Bureau: Fewer couples lived with children last year as birth rates fell

Declining birth rates drove down the number of couples living with children under 18 last year, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

The federal agency estimated that the share of married couples of the opposite sex living with school-aged children declined from 38.1% in 2019 to 37.6% in 2023. The share of same-sex married households with children dropped from 19% to 17% over the same period.

The share of unmarried couples with children in the home also dropped, from 12% to 10% in same-sex households and 36% to 34% in opposite-sex households.

In a summary of the findings, Census Bureau survey statistician Nestor Hernandez called the trends “a reflection of drops in U.S. fertility rates.”

“Married same-sex couples were more likely than their unmarried counterparts to have children living in the household,” Mr. Hernandez noted.

He pointed to an April report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found the U.S. birth rate dropped to its lowest point in over 100 years last year.

Among women of childbearing age, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics counted 54.4 births per 1,000 women, down 3% from 2022.

The CDC’s provisional analysis of birth certificates tallied nearly 3.6 million newborns last year, down 2% from 2022. It was the second straight year of declines and represented a return to long-term trends after a brief pandemic baby boom of 1% growth from 2020 to 2021.

Health experts have cited surging food and housing prices as reasons fewer women gave birth last year.

The report released Wednesday did not specify the relationships of children and adults living together.

However, the Census Bureau’s latest population figures estimate that 64% of Americans live together as families this year, down from roughly 64% in 2000.