Why fewer Americans are having kids

The number of Americans without children is growing, and research suggests the trend is not going to slow down.

Nearly 45 percent of women aged 15 to 49 were childless between 2017 and 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up from about 42 percent between 2015 and 2017.  

While older CDC data is less directly comparable, as the range of included ages has shifted, it suggests the rate of childlessness has been creeping up for longer still...