For the first time in 11 years of tracking American family attitudes, money has taken the top spot as the reason people are limiting how many children they have. Parents cite it twice as often as any other factor
According to the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University’s American Family Survey, more than seven in 10 Americans now believe raising children is too expensive, a 13% jump from last year. The shift shows a major change in how Americans view family planning, with 43% of respondents saying “insufficient money” as their main reason for having fewer or no children (1).
“To get 70% of Americans to agree on something, just that alone is telling us something,” Susan Brown, director of Bowling Green State University’s Center for Family and Demographic Research, told The Washington Post, regarding the survey (2).
It shows American families are taking quality of life and rising costs more seriously and feel they can no longer afford the old mentality that having kids is simply “part of what you do.” But what do these costs actually look like?
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent report from 2015, raising a child to adulthood, not counting college, cost middle-income married couples $233,610 (3).
Adjusted for inflation through September 2025, that figure now stands at $324,665 (4). As of September 2025, inflation sits at 3% (5), with families facing persistent price increases on essentials.
Other sources, like Brookings and Lending Tree have the cost pegged at $310,605 (2022) and $297,674 (2025) respectively.
Child care is one of the biggest pressure points. Child Care Aware of America reports that last year’s national average was $13,128 a year.
But costs vary widely. For example, parents pay about $641 a month per child in Mississippi, while families in Washington, D.C., face an average of $2,183 a month (6).
Meanwhile, financial cushions have eroded. The Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households found 18% of adults said the biggest emergency expense they could afford just with their savings was under $100. Another 13% could handle only $100–$499 (7). Financial instability remains widespread.
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Child care is only one piece of the cost-of-living puzzle. World Population Review data show the average U.S. household spends $61,334 a year, with housing accounting for nearly 35% of the total, or about $1,784 a month. The median price of a single-family home nationwide is $273,992. (8)
Add annual transportation costs of $9,826, health care at $5,177, food at $7,317 and utilities at $4,442, and the basics are expensive even before kids enter the picture (8).
Retirement adds another layer of anxiety. Fidelity data shows the average 401(k) balance for millennials, who are in their peak family-building years, is $67,300. Americans in their early 30s average $45,700, while those nearing retirement have a median balance of $192,300 (9).
Yet Americans say they need $1.26 million to retire comfortably, according to Kiplinger (10), meaning most households are far behind where they think they should be.
While 41% of BYU survey respondents said none of the listed factors influenced their family sizes, the rest cited several reasons that help explain why money has become such a dominant concern.
Beyond “insufficient money” (43%), respondents pointed to relationship instability (17%), lack of family support (12%) and conflicts with career goals (14%) as other factors limiting family size (1).
Economic concerns often show up within those issues. Relationship instability can stem from financial stress, and career conflicts often involve work-life balance tradeoffs tied to money.
The U.S. birth rate remained near a historic low of 1.6 children per woman in 2024 (2). This single number has major consequences.
A lower birth rate means fewer working-age adults and a smaller tax base to support an aging population. This creates pressure on programs like Social Security and Medicare that that on payroll taxes.
Research from the Aspen Economic Strategy Group notes that the worker-to-retiree ratio in U.S. entitlement programs has dropped from about 4.0 in 1964 to 2.7 today. Without changes in fertility or immigration, the funding gap will widen, and workers could face tax increases of around 20% (11).
A shrinking workforce already means slower economic growth and reduced consumer spending. Higher taxes could squeeze households even more.
The U.S. also faces increasingly restrictive immigration policies, which limit the country’s ability to bring foreign workers to fill gaps, something it has long relied on.
The Congressional Budget Office warns of “great labor shortages” after 2033 if this doesn’t change (12). Without higher birth rates or more immigration, the economic consequences will only compound.
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Brigham Young University (1); The Washington Post (2); U.S. Department of Agriculture (3); Bureau of Labor Statitistics (4, 5); Childcare Aware of America (6); U.S. Federal Reserve (7); World Population Review (8) Fidelity (9); Kliplinger (10); AESG (11); CBO (12).
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
