Abstract
The fertility decline experienced in high-income countries during the last 15 years challenges scholars to look “beyond the economic gaze” (Comolli et al. 2021). Lower fertility is largely related to later family formation and higher proportions of singlehood and childlessness, factors which are not fully explained by socioeconomic and labour market conditions. My talk uses the concept of reproductive cues to analyse how information and communication technologies (ICT) shape childbearing today. I present evidence from demographic and psychological research literature as well as first results from our Finnish family barometer 2024 survey concerning associations between screen time, social media use, and fertility ideals. The biological concept reproductive cues refers to environmental signals for when it is a good time to have and raise offspring. Crucially, such childbearing cues can also signal when is not a good time to reproduce. I argue that ICT-technologies and especially the spread of social media can shape childbearing cues in both indirect and direct ways. Indirect ways include effects of screen time on mental health, the dynamics of partnering, and the quality and duration of romantic relationships of young adults. Direct pathways include effects of ICT use on sexual maturation and sexual behaviour, and on the perceptions and values attached to pregnancy and motherhood. Overall fertility effects of ICT technologies can be negative, neutral or positive, and appear to be mediated by whether they strengthen close offline social relationships or not.
Link Microsoft Teams
Organisation
Chiara Comolli