Opinion: Government incentives alone won’t reverse the falling birth rate
January 11, 2026
Leaders of the Utah House of Representatives are worried about Utah’s fertility rate, and rightly so.
Birth rates can be measured in different ways. The National Center for Health Statistics looks at the number of live births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. Using that metric, Utah last led the nation in the per capita production of babies in 2014. Back then, that was well-known and sometimes fodder for jokes. But by 2023, the last year for which figures are available, Utah ranked 8th in that metric, well behind No. 1 South Dakota, which was third back in 2014.
