
By Gwynne Dyer - Smart phones seem to be directly linked to a worldwide crash in the birth rate. It is “quite plausible that the modern digital media environment has had profound effects on society that have led to a decline in romantic coupling,” according to Melissa Kearney, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame.

Germans have been busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 10% birth rate jump in March to the highest figure since 1998, the Federal Statistical Office said in a release. Germany had already reported a 6% rise in births in February.