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How smartphone use is linked to falling birth rates

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 929 words · By Maja Kunert
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What to know about How smartphone use is linked to falling birth rates

Birth rates across Europe have been falling for years.

Claims checked 19
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Birth rates across Europe have been falling for years.

Why it matters

According to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, the fertility rate in Germany in 2024 was 1.35 children per woman, two percent fewer than in the previous year.

Common ground

Provisional figures for 2025 point to a further decline, to around 654,300 births.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/03/how-smartphone-use-is-linked-to-fa…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 19 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 9
verified Verified By Reference 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
check_circle Corroborated 2
info Single Source 2
help
Claim 1: “Over the same period, the time they spent on screens for leisure activities rose from 22 to 96 minutes a day”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim regarding leisure screen time.
schedule
Claim 2: “The average fertility rate stood at 1.34 children per woman, down from 1.38 in 2023”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 3: “In 2003 US teenagers still spent 68 minutes a day in person with friends and other social contacts; by 2019 that figure had fallen to just 38 minutes”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim regarding the American Time Use Survey.
verified
Claim 4: “Provisional figures for 2025 point to a further decline, to around 654,300 births”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists only of dictionary definitions of the word 'provisional' and general Wikipedia entries about Germany; no specific birth statistics for 2025 were found.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Western and Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north with the Alps to the south. Its 16 consti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in Respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Nicaragua v. Germany) is an International Court of Justice case brought by Nicaragua against Ger…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._Germany
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A provisional government, also called an interim, emergency, or transitional government, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolution, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_government
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 5: “in households with at least one day of working from home per week, the fertility rate is on average 14 percent higher than in households without remote working”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 6: “In areas where 4G became available earlier, teenage birth rates fell earlier and more sharply”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 7: “Among the big economies, France leads with 1.61, while Spain comes in at 1.10 and Italy at 1.18”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 8: “Among women, the so‑called "fertility gap" – the difference between the desired and the actual number of children – has recently doubled to 0.41”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided consists of height converters and general Wikipedia entries for the word 'The', with no mention of the 'fertility gap' or the value 0.41.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 9: “the fertility rate in Germany in 2024 was 1.35 children per woman, two percent fewer than in the previous year”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (DW News and another report dated Aug 4, 2025) confirm that Germany's fertility rate in 2024 fell to 1.35 children per woman.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of events from the year 2024 in Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_in_Germany
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 2022, Germany's economy has experienced a downturn that marked a dramatic reversal of its previous "labour market miracle" period of 2005–2019. The country, which had been considered to be Europ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_economic_crisis_(2022–p…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2024
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 10: “No European country is currently above the replacement level of 2.1”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 11: “Since 1964, when it was 2.62, it has almost halved”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 12: “From around 2007, the year the first iPhone was launched, the birth rate among 15- to 19-year-olds fell sharply worldwide”
SINGLE SOURCE
One web search result mentions a drop in birth rates for 15-19 year olds, but it does not explicitly link the start of a global sharp decline specifically to 2007 or the launch of the iPhone across multiple sources.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The birth rate (along with mortality and migration rates) is used to calculate population growth. The estimated average population may be taken as the mid-year population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_rate
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web search NEUTRAL — The birth rate for 15- to 19-year-olds dropped 8% from 2019. It's fallen almost every year since 1991.
https://www.kmbc.com/article/birth-rate-lowest-point-2020/36…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Data on the birth rate by country, highlighting both top ten countries with the highest and lowest birth rates per 1000 people.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/birth-rat…
info
Claim 13: “In the United States, the birth rate among girls aged 15 to 19 fell by 71 percent between 2007 and 2024, and among women aged 20 to 24 by 43 percent”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for this claim consists of a TV series called 'Between' and dictionary definitions, with no actual statistical data on US birth rates.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Between is the story of a small town called Pretty Lake and surrounding rural area under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody aged 22 and older. The series also explores numero…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_(TV_series)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · The meaning of BETWEEN is by the common action of : jointly engaging. How to use between in a sentence. Between vs. Among: Usage Guide
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/between
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Between is a private space where you can share each moment only with that special someone. Create, share, and remember all your moments with each other. Get started now!
https://between.us/
verified
Claim 14: “An analysis by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) shows that women would like to have an average of 1.76 children, and men 1.74”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The search results for 'BiB' and desired children are generic or unrelated (e.g., Star Wars, Bible types of love) and do not provide the specific figures of 1.76 and 1.74.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bib, bib, BIB or BiB may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bib
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bib Fortuna is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. The Twi'lek majordomo and chief aide of the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, Bib is Jabba's closest associate, succeeding him as daimyo after…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bib_Fortuna
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel of the canonical gospels in the New Testament. The first section of the gospel presents a schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven signs that culm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 15: “the Financial Times put a new US study by the University of Cincinnati's Nathan Hudson and Hernan Moscoso Boedo centre stage in May 2026”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While the Financial Times is a known entity, the evidence provided does not contain any mention of a May 2026 report on a study by Nathan Hudson and Hernan Moscoso Boedo.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — André Tomas Balazs (born January 31, 1957) is an American businessman and hotelier. He is president and chief executive officer of André Balazs Properties, a portfolio of hotels across the United Stat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Balazs
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fool's Gold is a 2008 American romantic action comedy film from Warner Bros. Pictures, directed by Andy Tennant and reunites the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fool's_Gold_(2008_film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gordon's War is a 1973 blaxploitation action film written by Howard Friedlander & Ed Spielman, directed by Ossie Davis and starring Paul Winfield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon's_War
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 16: “Within the EU, rates range from 1.01 in Malta to 1.72 in Bulgaria”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 17: “Hudson and Moscoso Boedo analysed data from 128 countries”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (UC Homepages and eNCA) explicitly state that Hudson and Moscoso Boedo analyzed data from 128 countries regarding smartphone penetration and teenage fertility.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 25, 2026 ... HERNAN MOSCOSO BOEDO. ∗†. ∗Department of Economics ... data; the international panel here shows the same pattern across 128 countries with.
https://homepages.uc.edu/~moscoshn/Personal_webpage/papers/S…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... ... Moscoso Boedo found ... They analyzed World Bank data measuring smartphone penetration and teenage fertility rates in 128 countries.
https://www.enca.com/lifestyle/killing-mood-smartphones-redu…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... ... Moscoso Boedo found ... They analyzed World Bank data measuring smartphone penetration and teenage fertility rates in 128 countries.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/326749/killing-the-mood-sm…
schedule
Claim 18: “about 3.55 million children were born in the EU in 2024, 3.3 percent fewer than in the previous year”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 19: “In Germany, the authors estimate that a rate of working from home comparable to that in the United States could be associated with around 13,500 additional births per year”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.