Category: Children

BY MARCIA WENDORF

In late 2021, Elon Musk tweeted his fears about the end of humanity. “We should be much more worried about population collapse….If there aren’t enough people for Earth, then there definitely won’t be enough for Mars,” he opined. Musk’s statements brought the world’s falling birthrate to the forefront of social consciousness.

For nearly a century, fertility rates have been decreasing globally. The result is what scientists are describing as a “worldwide infertility crisis.” But there’s a solution looming on the horizon — artificial wombs.

In 2017, scientists created a “BioBag” that functioned as an artificial womb, and they used it to grow a baby lamb. Now, a new concept has been unveiled exclusively to Science and Stuff showing how the same could be done for humans. In recently released footage, Hashem Al-Ghaili shows what childbirth might look like tomorrow. Specifically, he created an artificial womb facility named EctoLife.

Its purpose? In an exclusive interview with Science and Stuff, Al-Ghaili says he thinks the EctoLife concept could one day supplant traditional birth. In so doing, he said society would finally be able to meet the needs of parents who are “tired of waiting for a response from an adoption agency” and those who are “worried about pregnancy complications.” But most importantly, he says EctoLife could allow us to confront the infertility crisis head-on.

Continue reading… “Exclusive: Concept Unveiled for the World’s First Artificial Womb Facility”

By Pratap Vardhan

Every four minutes, approximately 1,000 babies are born across the globe. But in which countries are these babies the most statistically likely to come from?

Using data from the CIA World Factbook, this graphic by Pratap Vardhan (Stats of India) paints a picture of the world’s demographics, showing which countries are most likely to welcome the next 1,000 babies based on population and birth rates as of 2022 estimates.

Continue reading… “Where Will the World’s Next 1,000 Babies Be Born?”

In this Friday, April 13, 2012 photo, Kelly, left, and Bill Noorish walk around a model a Lennar Next-Gen multigenerational home, in Las Vegas.

The percentage of young adults living with parents, grandparents, or older siblings or roommates has nearly tripled since 1971, new data from the Pew Research Center shows. 

In a 2021 survey of nearly 10,000 Americans, one in four adults from ages 25 to 34 lived in a “multigenerational family household” — defined as a household of adults 25 and older that includes two or more generations. About 9% of adults had these living circumstances in 1971, the report said. 

While most young adults in multigenerational households lived in households led by one (39%) or two parents (47%) — the most common arrangements — about 14% lived in a household headed by someone other than a parent, such as a grandparent, sibling, roommate or an unmarried partner. 

In contrast, 15% of young adults had at least one parent who had moved in with them, according to Pew. 

Finances and caregiving are the driving factors behind multigenerational households, the survey found, and there is also a correlation between education level and those who live in multigenerational households.

From 1971 to 2021, multigenerational living doubled to 16% among young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, while it tripled to 31% among young adults who only finished high school. 

In 1971, the rates of multigenerational living were similar among all young adults regardless of education level. 

A separate Pew study found that 37% of men from ages 25 to 29 lived in a multigenerational household in 2021, compared to 26% of women in that age range.

Continue reading… “1 in 4 young adults live with a parent, grandparent or older sibling, research shows”