What Percentage of US Women Have No Children?

    Published 2026-07-18 · Female Partner Calculator research

    55%
    of US women aged 25-34 have no children

    A majority of American women under 35 have no children. According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 85% of women aged 18-24 are childless, as are 55% of women aged 25-34. The picture reverses in the following decade: by ages 35-44, only 25% of women have no children, since most childbearing is completed in the thirties.

    The childless share at every age has been climbing for decades as women delay both marriage and first births. CDC birth data shows the mean age of first birth for American mothers has risen to about 27.3 years, up from 21.4 in 1970, and birth rates for women in their twenties have fallen to record lows while rates for women over 35 keep rising.

    This article covers the share of women without children by age and race, the trend over time, and how parental status interacts with the other demographics that define a dating pool.

    Childlessness by age: the crossover in the thirties

    The steep drop in childlessness happens between the 25-34 and 35-44 brackets. At 25-34, 55% of women have no children, reflecting delayed first births rather than permanent childlessness. By 35-44, that figure falls to 25%, meaning three quarters of women in the bracket are mothers.

    Demographers distinguish between postponed and permanent childlessness. Census Current Population Survey fertility supplements have historically found that roughly 15-17% of women reach the end of their childbearing years without having children, so a substantial share of childless women in their late thirties will still become mothers, while the remainder will not.

    The number of children also matters, not just their presence. Among mothers aged 35-44, the modal family size is two children, and CDC data shows completed family sizes of four or more children have become rare outside of a few religious communities. The two-child norm has held remarkably steady even as the childless share has grown, meaning the overall fertility decline is driven mostly by more women having zero children rather than mothers having fewer.

    Share of US women with no children, by age and race (Census ACS 2022)
    Group18-2425-3435-44
    All women85%55%25%
    Asian92%68%35%
    White (non-Hispanic)88%58%28%
    Hispanic80%48%22%
    Black75%45%20%

    Race and ethnicity differences

    Asian women delay childbearing longest: 68% of Asian women aged 25-34 have no children, and 35% remain childless at 35-44, both the highest of any group. This mirrors their later marriage ages and higher educational attainment, since graduate education pushes first births past age 30 on average.

    Black and Hispanic women begin families earliest. Only 45% of Black women and 48% of Hispanic women aged 25-34 are childless, and by 35-44 the childless shares fall to 20% and 22% respectively. White women fall in between, tracking close to the national average at every age.

    The long-run rise in childlessness

    Childlessness among young women has climbed steadily. CDC National Vital Statistics data shows the US general fertility rate has fallen to record lows, and the total fertility rate now sits around 1.6 births per woman, well below the replacement level of 2.1. Every year of delay in first births mechanically raises the childless share of women in their twenties and early thirties.

    Intentions are shifting too, not just timing. Pew Research Center's 2021 survey found that 44% of non-parents aged 18-49 said it was not too likely or not at all likely they would ever have children, up seven percentage points from 2018. Financial pressures, career priorities, and simply not wanting children were the most cited reasons.

    How parental status intersects with other filters

    Having no children correlates heavily with being unmarried, so the two filters overlap rather than multiply independently. Among women aged 25-34, 45% have never married and 55% are childless, and these are largely the same women: never-married women in this bracket are childless at far higher rates than married women.

    The correlation weakens with age. In the 35-44 bracket, the never-married share (20%) and the childless share (25%) diverge from each other because many divorced and married women are also childless, and some never-married women are mothers. Census data indicates roughly 40% of recent births are to unmarried women, so parental status and marital status are increasingly independent dimensions.

    Run the numbers yourself

    Parental status is a standard filter in the Female Partner Calculator, which combines the no-children shares in this article with age, marital status, education, and other criteria to estimate the fraction of US women matching a full profile.

    Run the numbers on your own standards

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    Frequently asked questions

    It varies sharply by age: 85% of women aged 18-24, 55% of women aged 25-34, and 25% of women aged 35-44 have no children, according to Census ACS data.

    Census fertility data has historically shown that roughly 15-17% of US women complete their childbearing years without having children. That share is expected to rise given record-low birth rates and shifting intentions.

    Asian women have the highest childless rates at every age: 68% at ages 25-34 and 35% at ages 35-44. Higher education and later marriage are the strongest correlates of delayed or foregone childbearing.

    Yes. The total fertility rate has fallen to about 1.6 births per woman, the mean age at first birth has risen to about 27.3, and Pew finds 44% of young non-parents say they are unlikely to ever have children.

    Sources

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