It happened again. The U.S. fertility rate fell slightly in 2025, to another record low, extending two decades of declines, according to new federal data released on Thursday. The fertility rate—the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age—dropped to 53.1, from 53.8 in 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The number of births dropped too, falling by about 1% from the previous year, to 3,606,400.

The fertility rate has been falling since 2007, a trend that has become something of a demographic mystery. The drop began during the Great Recession, and experts first attributed it to the sharp economic downturn, following a common historical pattern. But the rate has continued to drop, and demographers have been trying to understand why. But there are some clues in the age breakdown: The fertility rate for teenagers dropped by 7% from 2024’s figure, setting another record low for the group. Since 2007, the rate for teenagers is down by 72%, and since 1991, when teenage fertility rates were at a high, the rate is down by 81%.

Experts generally agree that a falling fertility rate can have real consequences—particularly related to the economy—but say it’s important to understand the reasons behind the decline before trying to change it. “Our world and our lives are complex,” Dr. Alison Gemmill tells CNN. “There are so many factors that people consider when making decisions about how and when to start a family, and they all matter.”

Yahoo Life spoke to two experts about the pros and cons about the falling birth rate. They said women choosing to have fewer babies or have children later in life (or not at all) is a reflection of exactly that: choice, something women didn’t always have when it comes to childbearing. This autonomy has a number of positive implications for them, and for the U.S. more broadly, such as fewer women are dying in childbirth and more people staying in the workforce for longer.

There have been concerns about the fact that the U.S. fertility rate no longer meets the “rate of replacement.” To keep the population size and the economy stable, women need to have an average of 2.1 kids each—one to replace herself, and one to replace her partner, and “a little extra to account for mortality” among children and working-age adults—Phillip Levine, a Wellesley College professor of economics, told Yahoo. Of course, when fewer babies are being born and a growing number of older adults are retiring, there’s Social Security shortfalls, too, to worry about.

President Trump said Iran is “doing a very poor job” of letting oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz and warned the country against collecting tolls from ships traveling through the strategic waterway. An Iranian lawmaker said earlier that Tehran was charging some ships $2 million. About 20% of the world’s oil is transported through the strait.

The already shaky ceasefire between the two countries is getting more strained by the day, even as they prepare for peace talks in Islamabad on Saturday. Iran says the U.S. is violating the agreement by allowing Israel to continue its war on Hezbollah in Lebanon, while the White House says that was never part of the deal. Sources told the BBC that the U.S. will host diplomatic talks to craft a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.

This weekend’s negotiations are poised to center on the fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium that could be used to make a nuclear bomb. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Iranians indicated openness to surrendering the material, while Iranian officials insist they won’t budge on defending their right to enrich uranium, arguing it’s for peaceful civilian purposes.

The Artemis II Orion spacecraft is scheduled to splash down later tonight (around 8pm EST) in off the coast of San Diego, California, marking the end of their 10-day mission. But as many have reported, coming home may be the most dangerous part of this historic lunar mission.

After a successful flight around the moon, the astronauts are relying on a flawed heat shield to protect them as they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. NASA officials, however, are confident that despite the known shortcomings of the critical layer at the bottom of a spacecraft, the four astronauts will remain alive and comfortable as they drop in at a speed of nearly 24,000 miles per hour. However, Charlie Camarda, a former NASA astronaut and an expert on heat shields, told the New York Times that NASA should never have launched Artemis II. His hunch is that there is a 95% chance that the astronauts will return safely. But that would mean a 1-in-20 odds of a disaster.

If you’re interested in watching, CBS News has a live one-hour special that will air on TV and CBSNews.com During re-entry the capsule will shed its service module and starting a 12,000 feet, a series of 11 parachutes will unfurl to slow the capsule from several hundred miles to a gradual 17–20 mph for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Speaking to media from space on their way home, the mission's pilot, Victor Glover, said the crew was eager to share what they had seen with the world. “We have to get back. There’s so much data that you've already seen, but all the good stuff is coming back with us.”