iPhone a birth control device? Is it contributing to declining fertility rate: WION Decodes

Couples across the world are facing growing difficulties in conceiving a child, and this is largely being attributed to lifestyle changes like poor food habits, stress, health issues like weight gain, lack of exercise and air pollution. Rising living costs, expensive housing, delayed marriages and changing social norms have also forced couples to opt for a single child thus causing the fertility rate to drop. But there is one more reason, though unusual, behind the rapidly falling fertility rate - the introduction of Apple's smartphone or the iPhone.

Yes, you heard it right. Researchers in the United States have come to the conclusion that the device owned by billions of people could be influencing how people socialise, date and form relationships, thus affecting fertility rates around the world.

National Bureau of Economic Research, while exploring why fertility rate in the US dropped by 22 per cent since 2007 studied the impact of the arrival of Apple’s first iPhone during the same year. And guess what, their findings coincided with measurable changes in fertility patterns across the United States.

The US general fertility rate was nearly constant at 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women from 1980 through 2007. But began to decline and by 2024 it had fallen to 54 births.

Did the iPhone impact birth rates?

According to Researchers Caitlin Myers and Ezekiel Hooper, the iPhone during its initial years were sold exclusively through the telecommunication company AT&T in the US and all regions with strong AT&T coverage were studied to come to the conclusion that counties with greater access to the iPhone experienced larger declines in births, particularly among younger women.

The age group that was impacted the highest was between 15-24 although smaller but statistically meaningful declines were also registered among older age groups.

While in counties without AT&T coverage, teen births fell by 13.8 per cent, compared with 18.9 per cent in counties with partial coverage and 26 per cent in counties with larger coverage.

The study does not directly states that smartphones are responsible for the decline in fertility but suggests it may have impacted behavioural changes in individuals indirectly affecting fertility decisions.

It is believed that with the advent of smartphones and it growing popularity people started to spend less time with friends in the physical world, leading to drop in sexual activity. Also it lead to rising consumption of pornography, which researchers say became a possible substitute to sex.

Is this trend Global?

In another study published early this year, Economists Nathan Hudson and Hernan Moscoso Boedo analysed data from 128 countries and compared smartphone adoption rates with teenage fertility figures provided by the World Bank.

The research too disclosed a similar pattern, which means fertility rates began to fall in several countries once the smarphones made their entry.