Smartphones Linked to Global Decline in Birth Rates, Researcher Says

Dr. Liraz Margalit, a researcher of behavior in the digital age, said in an interview on the morning television program "HaOlam HaBoker" that smartphones are a surprising driver of the worldwide decline in births. She pointed to a sharp drop in birth rates around the world since 2007 and said the trend has two main causes.

First, she said dating apps on phones are replacing real-life meetings and making it harder to form intimate relationships. Second, constant access to pornography is creating addiction, providing immediate gratification and reducing interest in building real relationships, especially among young men.

Margalit said the business model of dating apps is designed to keep users inside the app rather than help them leave with a relationship. "The business model is to keep people in the app. They have no interest in them leaving it," she said. She described the experience as being shaped like a casino and linked it to "FOMO," here framed as fear that a better option may always be one swipe away.

According to Margalit, the flood of choices pushes the brain into elimination mode. "Our brain cannot deal with so many options, so it eliminates," she said, adding, "Instead of thinking what is good about a person, the first thing it sees is what is bad about a person." She said porn's constant availability on smartphones has made it one of the most severe addictions among young men and distorts expectations of real relationships. "A person today, because of porn, can see in one hour more women than the ancient human saw in his entire life," she said, arguing that such stimulation drains interest and desire for real women and offline interaction.