New study reveals how smartphones may be a major culprit in the fertifility crisis

Fertility rates and access to smartphones appear to have a strong correlation.

Pexels Images via Helena Lopes

The fertility rate in the US has been declining for decades.

You may have seen this firsthand in your own social circles just as I have.

Researchers have been trying to isolate the key drivers of this phenomenon with mixed results.

A new paper points directly at the smartphone as a key culprit, and cites the fertility rate has fallen 22% since 2007 (when the iPhone debuted) — which is a decline not easily explained by economic conditions, contraceptive use, housing and childcare costs — or other common reasons.

The paper’s lead researcher, Caitlin Myers, who is an economist with Middlebury College and the National Bureau of Economic Research, said, “We initially all just assumed it was the global recession. Births have long been known to be pro-cyclical, and so the conventional wisdom was they’ll come back up,” she said. “Then we had a baby-less recovery.”

She coined the term iGen, to describe the generation who would grow up entirely in the world of smartphones, where they inundate every aspect of life (her son being among them).

In the study, her team looked at AT&T data access records across geographies in the United States. They found that in counties where 90% of residents had early smartphone access, the fertility rate fell much more than in counties where only 10% had smartphone access.

The diffusion of the iPhone explains 33–52% of the decline in general fertility rates among women 15–44.

Bureau of Economic Research

The team is aware of other confounding factors, such as birth rates tending to decline in urban regions where internet access and education levels are higher.

However, they still believe that smartphones play a significant role in this declining birthrate. Specifically, they believe smartphones reduced in-person interactions, increased pornography use, and reduced sexual frequency.

This is even further concerning as AI chatbots continue to rise in use, making one wonder if humanity will soon scroll its way out of existence.

Per a Pew Research poll of adults over 50, the most common reasons people cite for not wanting children:

1. 39% said it just never happened.
2. 33% said they didn’t find the right partner.
3. 31% said they just didn’t want to.
4. 21% said they wanted to focus on other things.
5. 15% said infertility or other medical reasons.
6. 13% said concerns about the state of the world.
7. 12% said they couldn’t afford to raise a child.

It’s unclear how this list will pan out with a generation who is entirely dialed into their smartphones. Even further, this younger generation is expressing even more concern about the state of the world, the cost of living, and the potential future that sits in front of them.

Sadly, the long phone calls, bar conversations, and boredom that used to push people out their doors and towards each other, has now been replaced by mindless scrolling.

If you feel yourself wincing and uncomfortable while reading this article, it might be you. Perhaps instead of scrolling, consider calling a friend to go hang out. Feel the sun on your face.