The planet’s birth rate is forecast to sharply decline in the coming decades. This change in population, and increase in older people, has profound implications for society, economies and the environment.
The phenomenon has provoked a surge in pro-natalist conservatism amongst the likes of JD Vance and Viktor Orban, while father of twelve Elon Musk has previously claimed “a collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far”.
But while far-right agitators blame “childless cat ladies” and financially-independent “girl-bosses” for the falling birth rate, an analysis of global data has provided some surprising results.
Chief data reporter with the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch, has been investigating this new phenomenon labelled the ‘relationship recession’.
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He has found that while the birth rate among those in stable relationships remains relatively steady, there’s been an acute drop in the number of people coupling up in the first instance.
What is causing this decline in stable relationships and where is it happening?
And, are fewer couples and babies in the world actually a bad thing?
Today, on In The News, what is causing the global relationship recession?
John Burn-Murdoch and Irish Times relationships columnist Roe McDermott join the podcast to discuss the global - and local - collapse in stable relationships.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
