More than 40 percent of U.S. women said that they have changed their plans about when to have children or how many children to have because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey shows.
The survey, conducted by the Guttmacher Institute between April 30 and May 6, polled 2,009 women ages 18 to 49 years.
About one-third of the women (34 percent) said they wanted to get pregnant later or wanted fewer children because of the pandemic. Black women (44 percent) and Hispanic women (48 percent) were more likely than white women (28 percent) to say that they wanted to delay having children or wanted fewer children due to the pandemic. Lower-income women (37 percent) were more likely than higher-income women (32 percent) to say the same.
But about 17 percent of women said they wanted to have a child sooner or wanted to have more children because of the pandemic.
"Pandemic-related worries about finances and job stability, as well as general unease about the future," may be causing these changes to fertility plans, the report states.