The Atlantic

The Decline of American Motherhood

The share of the U.S. population who are moms is the smallest it’s been in a quarter century.
Source: Brendan McDermid / Reuters

As the American population grows, so does the number of American moms. But, more than a century after Mother’s Day became an official holiday, even as that number increases, the share of the American population who are mothers is at the lowest point it’s been in a quarter century.

It’s frequently noted that fertility rates , but the less observed consequence of this trend is that a decline in births can also mean a decline in motherhood in general. According to an analysis I ran of data from the Census Bureau, the.

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