Birth rates in the U.S. are at a near-record low. New data released by the CDC says about three-point-six-million babies were born in the U.S. last year. That's a one-percent increase from 2023, which saw an all-time low birth rate in the U.S. Karen Benjamin Guzzo, director of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explains why the rate is dropping. She says people are asking themselves: “Do I have the right partner? If I have another baby in child care, what would that do to my expenses? Does my job feel stable?” The birth rate has been declining since 2007.