Where Did All the Children Go?

America's Changing Map

Earlier this week, the Census reported startling data that only five states saw their population of children aged 0-4 grow in population from 2020 to 2022.

Even heavy migration states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona saw the young children's population decline significantly.

This is important as a policy point because it shows a lot about our current climate and where politics and culture are moving.

Here’s a map made by the Economic Innovation Group about population growth by state.

Now this seems obvious with our current tax and economic growth. High-tax states with massive population outflows, like California, New York, and Illinois, are shedding adult populations and the number of children in the state.

Yet the fact that states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona also saw a decline shows that this says more about tax policy and a bigger conversation about culture and economics. People aren’t having a lot of children, all people: Hispanics, whites, blacks, and Asian Americans.

This is partially because children are expensive and hard costs like food, housing, and energy are extremely high in ratio to incomes.