Analysis: Last Decade Saw Fall in Number of US Children

An examination of new census data reveals there are 1.1 million fewer children living in the United States today than there were at the start of the decade, Axios reported Thursday.

Citing an analysis by the Brookings Institution's William Frey, Axios reported the adult population grew by 8.8% in the 2010s, and in the three previous decades, the child population increased. But the past decade, the population aged along with a trend for Americans to wait longer to have kids  — and to have fewer of them.

In 2019, kids only made up 22% of the total population, according to the latest Census data. 

"This isn't the first decade of child population decline, but it ushers in a period when adult growth will continue to dwarf child growth as the population ages and proportionately fewer women are in their child bearing ages," Frey told Axios.

California, the most populous state, saw the largest numerical decline of under-18-year-olds of any state. There were 400,000 fewer children and teenagers living in the state this year than there were nine years ago.

According to Axios, states with the biggest share of their population under 18 were Utah, in the No. 1 spot, followed by Texas, Idaho, Nebraska, and Alaska.

States with the smallest share of their population under 18 were the District of Columbia, in the No. 1 spot, followed by Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

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