The planet is still on track to nearly 10 billion people by 2050, yet most families are having fewer children than they want. Longer lives, lower fertility and uneven migration now demand a rethink of how societies support parents and care for an ageing population.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projects that global population will grow another 20-30% from 2020 to 2050 before starting to level off around 2100.
Behind the headline figure, average fertility has plunged from five children per woman in the 1950s to 2.3 today and is expected to reach the “replacement level” of 2.1 by mid-century.
Two-thirds of humanity already lives in low-fertility contexts, where economic pressure, costly housing and education, unequal care duties and patchy reproductive-health services keep birth rates below what couples say they would like.
Short-term fixes such as baby bonuses rarely work, UNFPA warns. Instead, evidence shows that affordable childcare, flexible work, shared parental leave, gender equality and secure incomes help families reach their desired size while preparing economies for older populations.
The report also said that countries which overhaul pensions, healthcare and workplace rules early can turn demographic change into an opportunity rather than a crisis.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacu...
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 Februrary), a spokesperson for local firefighters sai...
Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), issued a statement on Friday (27 February) calling on Ankara to ...
Colombia’s commerce minister, Diana Marcela Morales, has said she will propose raising tariffs on certain Ecuadorian goods from 30% to 50%, as a tra...
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have...
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Speaking during a closed-door deposition in New York on Thursday (February), former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she did not “recall” ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had “no knowledge of his crimes”.
Pakistan’s declaration of an “open war” with Afghanistan must be understood in the context of months of escalating violence, regional analysts have said, describing the latest developments as a significant shift in the nature of the conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, offering Tehran’s assistance to facilitate understanding between its eastern neighbours.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Syria’s economy is showing clear signs of recovery, with economic activity accelerating in recent months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 Februrary), a spokesperson for local firefighters said.
Colombia’s commerce minister, Diana Marcela Morales, has said she will propose raising tariffs on certain Ecuadorian goods from 30% to 50%, as a trade dispute between the neighbouring countries intensifies.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have flown on the late convicted sex offender’s plane had he had any inkling of his activities.
Some of Iran's most highly enriched uranium, close to weapons grade, was stored in an underground area of its nuclear site in Isfahan, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report sent to member states on Friday (27 February).
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