Social experts are encouraging catholic leaders to instill in young people the benefits of matrimony.
By Catholics for Catholics
The decline in marriage has produced the drop in fertility rates in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, according to experts.
“One of the biggest drivers of the American fertility drop is the decline of marriage,” said Leah Libresco Sargeant, who has written about family policy and is the author of several books, including an upcoming book called “The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto.”
“Married fertility has declined somewhat, but it’s much more stable and much higher than unmarried fertility,” Sargeant added to OSV News. “If people were getting married more often (and earlier) fertility would be a lot higher.”
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics found that the birth rate dropped to a record low in 2024. The agency reported 53.8 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in 2024, a 1% decrease from 2023. That number renders to less than 1.6 children per woman, which falls below the 2.1 children per woman needed to keep the national population without immigration.
According to OSV, the report also found the decline is part of a larger trend: From 2007 to 2024, the fertility rate has decreased 22%.
Besides a direct link to marriage in regards to a drop in fertility rates, there are other issues close to the matter that are affecting the lower number of births, said experts like Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies.
“Political polarization between the sexes, the falling fortunes of men, and the digital revolution’s degradation of social skills and dating opportunities among young adults have made it more difficult for today’s young adults to mate, marry and have children,” Wilcox said.
Many experts also said how the Catholic Church — which stresses the importance of family and children to the church and society — should counter the dropping fertility rate.
“This moment gives new legitimacy to the Catholic Church’s longstanding celebration of marriage and parenthood,” said Wilcox, who is also the author of “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization.”
“Priests and lay religious leaders should underline the ways in which Catholic teaching speaks to the challenges of our depopulating moment,” Wilcox recommended. “They should also seek to find new ways to help young adults socialize and date.”
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