Health department data from more than two dozen states revealed a seven percent drop in December 2020, birth rates.
This means that the average number of children that U.S. women are birthing has fallen from four in the 1950s to less than two today.
Experts had been expecting an increase in birth rates as a result of the pandemic.
The decline in birth rates could lead to a "replacement level" too low for the support of the older population.
"We need to have enough working-age people to carry the load of these seniors, who deserve their retirement, they deserve all their entitlements, and they're gonna live out another 30 years." Dowell Myers, USC Professor, via CBS News.
Several factors have led to the declining birth rates, but experts point to an increase of "burdens of life" that the younger population faces.
"It really is a lot harder for young people today. It's amazing how much harder it is." Dowell Myers, USC Professor, via CBS News