Smartphones Are Making Us Less Fertile

Nine out of 10 Slovenes use a mobile phone to browse the internet, and nearly all of them do it every day. A Delo column argues that this near-universal habit may carry a demographic cost: smartphones could help make people less fertile.

Statistics published last year by Slovenia’s statistical office show that 88% of mobile internet users go online daily. Two-thirds, or 65%, spend time on social media. Similar figures apply in many other countries, the column says, making Slovenia unexceptional in the role smartphones play in daily life.

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Mobile phones are so convenient that they have become annoying.

The article frames smartphones as devices that have become indispensable and intrusive at the same time. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is quoted as saying, "Mobile phones are so convenient that they have become annoying." American businessman Javier Tordable offers a sharper image: "We carry all the world’s knowledge in our pockets, but we would rather stare at cat videos."

The column presents its argument as opinion, not as the position of the newspaper’s editorial board. It begins with a blunt prediction that there will soon be far fewer people than today, and says smartphones will bear a significant share of the blame.

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We carry all the world’s knowledge in our pockets, but we would rather stare at cat videos.