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Very few Americans know who Paul Ehrlich is.

YouGov asked Americans their opinion of Ehrlich, the controversial author of The Population Bomb who died this month. 80% of Americans say they don't know, while another 10% have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Ehrlich and the same share (10%) have an unfavorable opinion of him. Only 3% of Americans said they have read The Population Bomb, while another 13% said they are familiar with the book but haven't read it.

But Ehrlich's core argument — that overpopulation is a big problem that needs to be addressed — is more widely known than Ehrlich himself (and often associated with English economist Thomas Malthus). Americans are more likely to say overpopulation is a problem than they are to say low birth rates are. This is true when Americans are asked about the U.S.: 47% say overpopulation in the U.S. is a very or somewhat serious problem and 41% say low birth rates are. And it's especially true when Americans are asked about the world as a whole: 62% say overpopulation is a big problem globally and 37% say low birth rates are.

Liberals are more likely than conservatives to say overpopulation is a problem, and less likely to say low birth rates are. But even conservatives are more likely to say overpopulation is a serious problem worldwide than to say low birth rates are.

Birth rates are declining in the U.S. and worldwide. A majority of Americans say the number of children being born is falling in the U.S. (56%, while 16% say it's increasing). Americans are more closely divided over whether birth rates are declining worldwide (36% say they are, and 27% say they're increasing). 29% of Americans incorrectly say the number of children being born in India, the world's most populous country, is increasing, and only 12% correctly say it's decreasing.

YouGov asked Americans whether they agree or disagree with eight statements from The Population Bomb, presented either verbatim or with minor editing for clarity. A majority agree that "Americans must change their way of living so as to minimize their impact on the world's resources and environment" (61% strongly or somewhat agree, and 25% disagree). Two other Ehrlich statements see more agreement than disagreement: that "current rates of population growth guarantee an environmental crisis" (39% vs. 34%) and that "the birth rate must be brought into balance with the death rate or humanity will breed itself into oblivion" (41% vs. 35%).

More Americans disagree than agree with the five other Ehrlich quotes included in the survey, including that "we must have population control at home, hopefully through changes in our value system, but by compulsion if voluntary methods fail" (24% agree and 48% disagree), and that "there is not enough food today" (34% vs. 51%).

When it comes to their own lives, however, few Americans say they would prefer to have had fewer children. YouGov asked Americans how many children they have, and how many they would have had or eventually have in "an ideal world." 48% of Americans say they'd ideally have the same number of children as they currently have. Only 5% say they'd prefer fewer children than they have. 47% of Americans say they would like more children than they have.

Among Americans with no children, 43% say they ideally would be childless, while 56% say they want one child (9%), two children (29%), or three or more children (20%).

See the results of this poll

Methodology: The March 19 - 23, 2026 poll was conducted among 1,106 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.

Image: Getty (Yuichiro Chino)

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