Exploring the Complexities of U.S. Birth Rate Declines and Family Policies

The total fertility rate is a small number with big consequences.

It measures how many babies, on average, each woman will have over her lifetime. And for a population to remain stable - flat, no growth, no decline - women, on average, have to have 2.1 kids.

In the U.S., that number is 1.6, and dropping. It's driving a new political debate about what – if anything – can be done about it.

The thing is, beneath that demographic data point are millions of families making intimate decisions about kids. NPR's Sarah McCammon and Brian Mann dug into the politics and personal stories behind America's shrinking birthrate.

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