Number of Children Ever Born to Women Aged 45-50, 2024

Family Profile No. 11, 2025
Authors: Christopher A. Julian and Wendy D. Manning

In the U.S. birth rates have steadily declined since the Great Recession. In 2023, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR)—which estimates the average number of children a woman would have if current birth rates persisted throughout her childbearing years—reached a record low of 1,616.5 births per 1,000 women, marking a 2% decline from 2022 (Hamilton et al., 2024). The timing of fertility has shifted such that birth rates have decreased among younger women, whereas they have risen among those aged 35 and older (Osterman et al., 2023). In this profile we focus on the reported number of children among women who are at the end of their reproductive careers (ages 45-50). Data on completed fertility are drawn from the 2024 Current Population Survey’s (CPS) biennial June Fertility Supplement. In the 2024 Fertility Supplement, the CPS expanded its fertility questions to include women up to age 50. We present the distribution of children ever born (none, one, two, three, or four or more) among women aged 45–50, with breakdowns by race, ethnicity, and educational attainment. This update builds on previous Family Profiles (Guzzo & Schweizer, 2020; Guzzo & Loo, 2023).

Distribution of Children Ever Born

  • About one out of seven women aged 45-50 did not have a child, meaning 85% had at least one child. Most women reported they had two children.

Figure 1. Number of Children to Women Aged 45-50, 2024

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Source: NCFMR analyses of U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, June Fertility Supplement, 2024

Ethnicity

  • The share of women without children varied by racial/ethnic group, with the highest percentage among White women (18%) and the lowest among Hispanic women (9%).
  • While having two children was the most common category across racial/ethnic groups, the proportion varied considerably, ranging from 29% among Black women to 44% among women in the “Other” racial/ethnic category.
  • Black and Hispanic women more often had larger families (4+ children), with 17% of Black women and 16% of Hispanic women having had four or more children.

Attainment

  • The percentage of women who did not have children is highest among women with a bachelor’s degree (17% with a bachelor's degree or higher vs. 12-13% for lower educational attainment levels).
  • Having two children was the modal category across all education levels, but women with a bachelor’s degree or more most often reported having had two children (41%).
  • Having four or more children was more common among women with lower educational attainment (high school or less) than among women with higher educational attainment.

Figure 2. Number of Children to Women Aged 45-50 by Race/Ethnicity, 2024

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Figure 3. Number of Children to Women Aged 45-50 by Education, 2024

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Source: NCFMR analyses of U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, June Fertility Supplement, 2024

Data Source:
U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Current Population Survey, June 2024: Fertility Supplement [Data set]. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-supp_cps-repwgt/cps-fertility.html

References:
Guzzo, K. B., & Schweizer, V. (2020). Number of children to women aged 40-44, 1980-2018. Family Profiles, FP-20-04. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-20-04

Guzzo, K. B., & Loo, J. (2023). Number of children ever born to women aged 40-44, 1980-2022. Family Profiles, FP-23-29. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-23-29

Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., & Osterman, M. J. K. (2024). Births: Provisional data for 2023 (Vital Statistics Rapid Release No. 35). National Center for Health Statistics. https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/151797

Osterman, M. J. K., Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., Driscoll, A. K., & Valenzuela, C. P. (2023). Births: Final data for 2021. National Vital Statistics Reports: From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, 72(1), 1–53.

Suggested Citation:
Julian, C. A., & Manning, W. D. (2025). Number of children ever born to women aged 45-50, 2024. Family Profiles, FP-25-11. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-25-11

This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.

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Updated: 05/02/2025 12:16PM