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The surprising gender gap at the heart of America’s baby bust

Gen Z men want kids. Gen Z women have questions.

“Across party lines and demographic groups, young men are eager to be dads.”

That’s the surprising conclusion that Anna North, my Vox colleague, uncovered when she dove into the data to find out young people’s views about forming families. Birth rates have been in free fall, and talk of a demographic crisis has increasingly filled the discourse. In much of that commentary, the brunt of the blame has been directed at young people, who purportedly aren’t interested in settling down. But the truth, according to Anna, is more complex.

Young men across the political spectrum really want to be dads — more than you’d expect.

Young women are far less enthusiastic, and the reasons why are pretty understandable.

The gap has real consequences, but there are proven policy fixes that could help.

In addition to Gen Z men expressing interest in procreating, she also found something else that was surprising: There is a real gender gap between young men and young women, with young women showing greater hesitation about the prospect of having kids.

It’s a fascinating divide that could be hugely consequential, so I asked Anna to come join me on the Friday edition of The Gray Area to explain what she found in her reporting. As always, there’s much more in the full podcast, which drops every Monday and Friday, so listen to and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever you find podcasts.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What were you looking for when you started reporting on this piece on how Gen Z men and women are thinking about parenthood and how differently they’re thinking about it?

I saw this really interesting poll of young voters, Gen Z voters, and looked at male Trump voters, male Harris voters, female Trump voters, and female Harris voters and asked them to rank, what are the things you think are important in a good life.

The male Trump voters actually rated having children as number one among 12 or 13 different options. Nobody else had it up that high. Not any of the women, no matter how they voted. And not male Harris voters, either.

And if you look across polls, overwhelmingly,........

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