Psychological distress in parents possibly behind low Australian birth rates, not smartphones

Sixty percent of Australian parents reported experiencing psychological distress, according to the results of the Parenting Today survey, conducted late last year by the Parenting Research Centre. It has been suggested the impact on the mental health of parents in Australia is contributing to current record low birth rates here. Psychological distress and poor mental health, are not however the only factors dragging down births both in Australia, and elsewhere in the world. Cost of living pressures and expensive housing are also playing a part. As is, possibly, smartphone usage. Earlier this week Tyler Cowen, at Marginal Revolution, posted birth rate data from ten countries which generally show a prolonged, and clear, decline in birth rates across the twentieth century. An uptick is apparent in some nations during the baby-boom, which followed World War II, through to the 1960’s. The overall downward trend in birth rates obviously predate smartphones, and possibly even expensive…