Fertility rates have been falling for decades, but the decline has accelerated sharply over the past 20 years, and researchers are still trying to fully explain why.
Now, new research suggests that the device that has come to define modern life may play a role: the iPhone.
The smartphone, which was first released in 2007, coincides with a turning point in birth trends in the United States and elsewhere. This timing prompted American economist Caitlin Myers from Middlebury College in Vermont to investigate whether the two matters could be linked.
“It’s a great question. Why are births declining?” Myers said in an interview. “In the United States, births have fallen by almost a quarter since 2007.”
Her research examines whether increased screen time and the shift toward digital interaction may reduce in-person contact, indirectly leading to fewer pregnancies.
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To test this idea, Myers analyzed birth rates across US counties in the first years after the iPhone’s launch. At the time, the device was only available through AT&T, meaning some areas had access while others did not.
By comparing these regions and controlling for factors such as income, education and contraception policy, I found that birth rates decline more quickly in places where iPhones are available.
“We noticed that deliveries dropped much faster in places where you can get an iPhone,” Myers said.
The theory is simple: spending more time online may mean less time together in person. “It’s hard to get pregnant when you’re not with someone,” she told Global News.
Fertility rates are now well below replacement levels in many countries. In the United States, the rate is about 1.6 children per woman. In Canada, it is lower, at about 1.25.
This trend is not limited to rich countries. Declining birth rates are being recorded all over the world.
However, experts warn that smartphones are unlikely to be the only or even the main cause.
The 2000s brought a number of major social and economic shifts that are widely believed to have contributed to the so-called “birth bust.” These challenges include the global financial crisis, rising housing costs, rising levels of education, and expanding access to contraception.
Celia Chandler, a writer who documents her experience of being “childless by choice,” says it may be a stretch to draw a direct line between technology and people who decide not to have children.
“I think it might be an exaggeration to say that technology is preventing people from having children,” she said.
Chandler says one of the most important changes in recent decades is that more people, especially women, feel empowered to choose whether or not they want to become parents.
“I feel very lucky that I was born at a time when I had a choice,” she said.
The researchers acknowledge that the iPhone itself is unlikely to explain such a complex global trend on its own, but they say it may be part of a broader shift in how people communicate, form relationships and organize their lives.
