Public Health On Call

990 - Is There a Fertility Crisis?

2026-01-05

About this episode: The U.S. marked its lowest birth rate on record in 2024 with American women having—on average—1.6 children. Does this mean that the country has a fertility crisis? In this episode: Associate professor of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Linnea Zimmerman discusses how to measure fertility, assess trends in birth rates in the U.S. and worldwide, and think about the interaction between individual decisions and social needs. Guests: Linnea Zimmerman, PhD, MPH, is an associate professor of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a ped...