Global birth rates are falling…phones are a big reason why

In more than two-thirds of the world, the average number of children born to each woman has fallen below the “replacement rate”. Employment, home ownership and education are still big factors. But increasingly, so are mobile phones. Mentioned in this podcast: Why birth rates are falling everywhere all at once Credit: The Columbus Dispatch Want to get in touch? Email us at podcasts@ft.com Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted by Victoria Craig , and produced by Marc Filippino. Our show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to Global birth rates are falling…phones are a big reason why online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Global birth rates are falling…phones are a big reason why is an episode from FT News Briefing by Forhecz Topher.

This episode is 11:15 long.

This episode was published on May 26, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from FT News Briefing when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.