It should come as no surprise that among the ever-growing divide in this nation, that fertility, as anything else, is a point of potential controversy. A recent study from The Institute for Family Studies has found that in order to sustain the current population, each woman would need to have 2.1 children. Mounting concern about the rapid expansion of the global population can be recognized in many forms. Perhaps the most widely accepted form of protest against the rising population is the collective proclamation of the younger generation who are vowing to forgo a family in pursuit of other interests. Furthermore, lifestyle choices play a key role in one’s decision to start a family. In this article, we take a look at some of the main concerns when it comes to raising a family in modern times and break it down by ideology.
Cost: According to the American Family Survey, among democrat voters, 82% cited that the cost of raising a family is too expensive. Some independents and republicans also share this view, but of the same survey, only 38% of republicans mentioned cost as a valid reason to limited or reconsider the size of their desired nuclear family.
Views on Family: You may have heard the term “it takes a village” when it comes to rearing children. But what if you are no longer in contact with the very village that would provide the most support and relief when it comes to child rearing? Studies suggest that democrats are consistently far more likely to go no-contact with their families than republicans. This is most often the result of a “political break-up”. Around 81% of democrats do not find that raising a family at all is important or worth prioritizing over a career and social life, while
Social concerns: Much of today’s youth has replaced the value of family with the value of a social and work life. You could also cross reference this with the previous statistic. The amount of time and attention that goes into raising a family is less appealing to democrats who value a strong social circle. On the contrary, it is more common for republicans to find that raising children, staying home with them, and rearing them is a crucial part of their lives and identity. In fact, a 2025 survey from the same source above (Institute for Family Studies) found “Republicans twice as likely to prioritize marriage, family as Democrats; conservative women 3x happier than liberal peers”.
Politics: Finally, we get to what appears to be, the root of the fertility divide: Politics. Given that politics is a spectrum, it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly what political factors do and do not contribute to the decision for one to start or forgo a family, but we can take a look at current events and popular topics. Among concerns over issues such as climate change, equity and DEI measures, potential conflict with the middle east, medicaid for all, LGBT acceptance, and environmental concerns, those who tend to lean left consistently cite more concern on these topics than those who lean right, which have all been reported at some point as being valid reasons for refusing to have children.
The hard numbers tell an interesting story. Right now, conservative women are approaching an increase in fertility at approximately 1.5 children per woman, on average. On the flip side of this are the women on the left, who are steadily decreasing their fertility rate, which currently sits at just 1.09 and falling, as younger women are encouraged to seek equality in the work force and empowerment in independence.
This is a blatant contrast to the conservative right, which leads us to examine what is driving them that makes them the potential architects of the future of politics: religion. According to Pew Research, not only do about 84% of republicans identify as being religious, the overwhelming majority of those that practice religion 74% identify as Christian. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the old slogan coined by the political right, “God, Family, Country”, is finally taking root.
Where the future of politics lies is anyones guess. A divided nation’s fertility is in a slow decline, but only on one side of the political spectrum. The theoretical outcome based on the current trajectory of the data is that the future is very much conservative.
(All sources used in this article have been cited in the links included in the article. All of this information is based on research found on various polls, studies, and research platforms. The information has been provided accurately to the best of my knowledge.)
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