Smartphone Uptake Tied to U.S. Fertility Decline, Study Finds
TL;DR Summary
A new study links the diffusion of smartphones, starting with the iPhone in 2007, to a meaningful drop in US fertility between 2007 and 2011—especially in counties with broad access and among teens and women in their 20s—though other experts caution that broader social, economic, and policy factors likely also contributed and the exact mechanism remains uncertain.
- Smartphones arrived just before the US fertility rate plunged. One study says it’s a direct cause CNN
- Can smartphones help explain the drop in birth rates? NPR
- Why Are Birthrates Down? Two New Studies Point to Phones. The New York Times
- You can blame America’s plummeting fertility rate on the iPhone, study finds: ‘People are all depressed and alone and doomscrolling’ Fortune
- America’s baby bust may be linked to the iPhone, study says Yahoo
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