Is growing racism causing Black Americans to rethink parenthood? | Jerel Ezell

To the bewilderment of researchers like me, the historical racial fertility gap has shrunk. Conventional explanations for this come up short

In recent years, the United States' total fertility rate - the average number of children a woman will have over her childbearing years - has hovered at historic lows. The ongoing decline has bolstered fears about the nation's ability to manage its vast economy - and maintain its ever-so fragile position as a global superpower. While America's fertility dip isn't unique - after all, about half of countries worldwide have fertility rates well below replacement levels (the minimum fertility amount needed to sustain a population) - its situation is becoming uniquely intricate, maybe even irreversible. To understand why, you need only look at the case of America's Black population.

Historically, Black and other non-white women have had higher fertility rates than white women, but in recent years, to the bewilderment of researchers like me, these gaps have rapidly shrunk due primarily to Black people foregoing children. In a poll conducted in March by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, only 37% of Black respondents said that having kids was important, compared with 51% of white people and 46% of Hispanics. Why? One contentious explanation is that Black people may be both consciously and unconsciously deciding not to have children over fears about increasing racism in America.

Jerel Ezell is an epidemiologist and visiting professor at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He studies the cultural and racial aspects of health