The economic and public health fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in an impending "baby bust." A new report published by Brookings suggests that the U.S. could see a decline of between 300,000 to 500,000 births if the labor market continues to suffer beyond this year.
Economic factors have impacted birth rates throughout history, say authors Melissa S. Kearney, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, and Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College.
"In the analytical terms of economic modeling, adults 'choose' the quantity of children that maximizes their lifetime well-being subject to the costs associated with childbearing. Such a framework predicts, all else equal, that a higher level of lifetime income leads people to have more children," reads the report.
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