Conservatives Average 1.4 Children to Liberals’ 1.09, Study Finds

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 24

Institute for Family Studies data cited by The Atlantic found self-identified conservatives average 1.4 children, versus 1.09 for liberals, a gap researchers said persists after adjusting for income, education, religion, race, age and marital status.
Parenting attitudes appear to help explain the divide: conservatives are more likely to see children as central to a fulfilling life, while liberals more often prioritize career, education, creative pursuits, travel and friendships.
Higher liberal anxiety also featured in the research, with concerns spanning parenting stress, mental health, climate change, reproductive healthcare access and fears of repeating family trauma.
Urban living may widen the gap, IFS researcher Ken Burchfiel said, arguing that Democrats’ concentration in expensive cities can make child-rearing feel harder and reduce everyday exposure to families.
The partisan fertility split comes as U.S. births keep falling overall, with provisional CDC data showing births slipped 1% from 2024 to 2025.