Are Smartphones the Reason No One is Having Kids?

Falling Fertility: Birth rates in the U.S. have been falling for nearly two decades, and researchers have proposed everything from housing costs to delayed marriage as explanations. Now, a provocative new study suggests smartphones may have played a surprisingly large role.

The Study: Researchers analyzed the rollout of the first iPhone, which was sold exclusively through AT&T from 2007 to 2011. Because AT&T’s mobile broadband coverage expanded unevenly across the country, the researchers could compare areas that gained early iPhone access with those that got it later. They found that regions with earlier access experienced larger declines in births, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The proposed mechanism isn’t biological: smartphones appear to have reduced in-person socializing, increased pornography consumption, and contributed to less frequent sex.

The Takeaway: The study’s central claim is that smartphones may have changed how people spend their time and form relationships — and those behavioral shifts may have translated into fewer births.

Keep in Mind: Critics note that fertility was already declining before smartphones arrived and that factors like the Great Recession and changing attitudes toward family formation could also explain part of the trend. The findings are intriguing, but they’re far from the final word, and the hypothesis remains speculative.