How Smaller Families are Changing the World

Up First from NPR

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4.5 • 52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 November 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

Across the globe, there is a shift in the size of families as birthrates decline. Communities, schools, and workforces are all shrinking at an alarming rate. Even in the wealthiest countries populations are aging and straining key social systems. How are smaller families changing the world and what does it mean for our future? Explore the full series at npr.org/populationshift.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday story from Up First, where we go beyond the news of the day to bring you one big story.
0:09.4	You may have caught wind of this already, but families aren't having as many kids as they used to.
0:15.9	Not just here in the U.S., but around the world.
0:19.3	In fact, researchers say the average woman is having half as many children now than they
0:24.8	did in the 1970s.
0:27.3	Ashley Yvancho is a mom in upstate New York who decided one child is enough for her family.
0:33.4	I don't need another one.
0:35.1	I don't want another one.
0:36.7	I love having only one child.
0:38.7	It is, I think, a very elegant choice because I still feel like I have balance in my life.
0:45.2	Why are so many families making this choice?
0:48.3	And what exactly does it mean for our future?
0:51.5	NPR has launched a new reporting series called Population Shift,
0:55.8	how smaller families are changing the world.
0:58.8	We're bringing you the stories of families that are making untraditional choices,
1:03.8	communities that are graying faster than they're growing,
1:07.0	and schools whose classes are getting smaller and smaller every year.
1:11.6	You can find all their reporting at npr.org slash population shift.
1:16.7	When we come back, we'll get some insight from the team that's taking the lead on this series.
1:22.0	NPR's Sarah McCammon and Brian Mann.
1:35.2	Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation,
1:39.3	working to restore a balanced relationship between people and planet.
	...

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