Maricopa County is seeing a noticeable decline in its birth rate, and there may be multiple reasons why people are having fewer children.

Statistics released by the Arizona Department of Health Services show a significant decline in the number of births in Phoenix during the past decade. Data shows there was a total of 57,663 recorded births in 2009 in Maricopa county, compared with 50,998 recorded births in 2019.

While there may be many reasons for the decline,  local people  say there are several main ones: including the increase in same-sex marriage and adoptions, more acceptance of family planning and abortion, and because younger people are prioritizing their own lives over having a family.

A steady decrease in births can be seen in data following 2014, the year Arizona legalized same-sex marriage. According to a report released by the U.S.  Census Bureau, Phoenix was ranked as the city with the ninth-highest concentration of same-sex couples in 2019, the same year Phoenix’s average household number was reported to be 2.85. As same-sex households become more common in Phoenix, so does adoption.

The Agape Adoption Agency of Arizona reports Arizona is first in the nation for the most public agency adoptions, which could contribute to by the state’s high concentration of same-sex households.

The state also has seen a precipitous decline in teen pregnancies. AZDHS data shows a decrease in the birth rate of mothers aged younger than 20, from 11.8 in 2009 down to 5.5 in 2019. Arizona has seen drastic drops in teen pregnancy rates for the past few years, possibly aided by rising support for the pro-choice movement in Phoenix.

Pro-choice groups in Phoenix, such as the Abortion Fund of Arizona, aim to help women feel comfortable with turning to abortion as a viable option for unwanted pregnancies. As these groups gain more support from the public and Democratic lawmakers, birth rates drop, and teen birth numbers are no different.

Arizona reported a total of 4,318 teen births in 2019, a significant drop from the 10,300 reported just seven years before in 2013, according to the Power to Decide website, a campaign group that advocates to prevent unplanned pregnancy.

Then there’s the fact that some Phoenix women just don’t want to have kids. Jen Gulbin, a Phoenix resident, chose not to have kids for reasons many Valley women may relate to.

“First of all, I didn’t want to have kids because of the fact that women have to give birth to them, and I am a woman,” Gulbin said. “Then there’s the societal expectations of women to sacrifice all for somebody else - the child - which I never wanted to do.”

 Couples in Phoenix have adopted new ideas for how to create their own style of family without incorporating children, even adopting an old slang term to describe their homelife.

“DINK-dual income no kids,” Phoenix resident Zen Cataldo said describing the label couples are using. “It’s terminology that people are using to describe a lifestyle in which they're choosing to not create a family with kids."

Cataldo explained many of her friends in the Phoenix area have started using this term as they decide to go about life kid-free.

Increased female participation in the workforce means women have less time to care for children or are less inclined to take maternity leave. In a survey conducted by The New York Times, 23% of people surveyed said they chose to have fewer children due to a struggle with work-life balance.

Gulbin feels the same.

 “Having a kid, as long as you're a good parent, will keep you from doing things you want to do, like in your career,” Gulbin said.  “And if I was a parent, I would want to be a good parent, and I never felt like those two could work together.”

Arizona reported in 2019 that 73.9% of women participate in the workforce, according to the Making Action Possible for Southern Arizona website, an Arizona-based data resource.

Changing norms in society bring along new ideas and opinions on what once were traditional standards set by previous generations, and women in Phoenix are no exception as they continue to challenge society’s view on the role of women in America.

Hannah Smith is a student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.