# The baby bust is making the world more unequal > Fertility has inverted: richer people and countries now have more children than poorer ones, portending a world divided by demographics. - Title: The baby bust is making the world more unequal | Shortify - Summary: Fertility has inverted: richer people and countries now have more children than poorer ones, portending a world divided by demographics. - Keywords: fertility rates, population decline, demographic inequality, modernity, economic inequality, united states, china, oecd countries, sub-saharan africa, aging populations, government policy, Foreign Affairs - Source: Foreign Affairs — https://foreignaffairs.com/united-states/luxury-children - Author: Jesús Fernández-Villaverde - Published: 2026-11-10T09:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 4 min - Topics: fertility rates, population decline, demographic inequality, modernity, economic inequality, united states, china, oecd countries, sub-saharan africa, aging populations, government policy, world ## Humanity crosses a threshold Last year, global fertility fell below replacement rate for the first time in human history. The world population will peak around 2055 and then begin to fall. ## The inversion nobody expected Fertility has reversed: wealthier people and countries now have more children than poorer ones. This overturns centuries of demographic assumptions about income and family size. ## The United States leads the rich world Among twelve countries tested, the United States has the highest fertility rate despite being the wealthiest. Dozens of middle-income countries now fall below the U.S. level. ## Mexico's dramatic decline A Mexican woman now expects 1.2 children over her lifetime, well below the 1.57 average for non-Hispanic white women in the United States. Two decades ago, Mexico's rate was much higher. ## Within countries, the same pattern Richer and more educated households in the United States and other advanced economies now have more children than poorer and less educated ones, reversing a centuries-old pattern. ## Housing costs don't explain it Higher housing prices seem to lower fertility in the United States, but many countries have seen steeper fertility declines without skyrocketing housing costs. No single factor explains the crash. ## Smartphones accelerated, not caused it Some researchers blamed smartphones for atomization and lower fertility. But fertility has been falling since the late nineteen sixties, well before smartphones appeared. The device compressed change that would have happened anyway. ## Female education reversed its effect Female education and employment once lowered fertility. Today across OECD countries, the correlation is positive: more educated, employed women live in countries with higher fertility rates. ## Modernity makes children impossible Modern societies organize life around formal institutions, specialized expertise, and large-scale systems. This raises the cost of children and lowers the cost of childlessness, making replacement fertility impossible. ## The credentials trap Parents must equip children with formal knowledge and credentials, an effort taking decades.Tight career schedules conflict with biological clocks.The most productive years for a research economist are thirty to forty-five, when children need most time. ## Children no longer provide for parents In traditional economies, children helped in fields and workshops and provided eldercare. Modern economic life no longer requires those roles, and welfare states support the elderly. Lineage no longer determines people's future. ## The Amish exception Tight-knit religious communities like the ultra-Orthodox in Israel and the Amish in the United States maintain high fertility rates. The Amish live in rural areas with cheaper housing and end formal education at eighth grade. ## Children became a luxury good When Gallup asked Americans about ideal family size in July two thousand twenty-five, the average was two point seven children.But children are costly and bring no income.Richer families can afford more than poorer ones. > the average answer was 2.7 ## Stable families have more children Richer families have more stable marriages. Among Americans born nineteen fifty-seven to nineteen sixty-four, about half of men with a high school diploma saw their first marriage end in divorce by fifty-five, compared with twenty-seven… ## China's fertility collapse In nineteen seventy-two, nearly eight times as many children were born in China as in the United States.In twenty twenty-five, that figure dropped to two point two times as many. ## America's demographic advantage If fertility rates hold, the United States will overtake China in annual births in the twenty eighties and in total population by around twenty one hundred twenty. ## Japan's warning for others Japan became rich before it got old, making it the best-case scenario for demographic decline.Countries like Mexico and Thailand lack Japan's advantages and may struggle with the same headwinds. ## Policy can ease the burden Governments should make education less competitive and costly, build affordable housing, and provide affordable childcare. Even raising the U.S. fertility rate to one point seven from one point fifty-eight would produce significant long-term impact. ## Eastern Germany's future spreads If policies fail, richer families and countries will gain weight while poorer ones dwindle.Eastern Germany offers a preview: young people left, towns emptied and aged, voters turned to extremes. ## Key takeaway Global fertility has fallen below replacement level for the first time, but the decline is uneven: wealthier people and countries now have more children than poorer ones, widening inequality.