Tootfinder

Why are we having fewer children?
(Interview with Berkay Ozcan, Professor at LSE)
- Couple formation happens at later age
- Women are choosing "careers" and not just "jobs"
- More people choose not to have kids at all
What else is going on? Short anser: we don't know yet
Even in countries providing a lot of support to parents, fertility rate has still declined
Immigration is no silver bullet. It's part of the solution, not th…

Berkay Ozcan: “Immigration is not a silver bullet for falling birth rates”
Berkay Ozcan discusses falling birth rates, whether immigration might provide the answer and what a smaller global population would mean for the environment.

This is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated analysis, exploring convincingly why birth rates are crashing basically everywhere and while there are certain many factors, the smoking gun is actually a smartphone.
So what to do about it? I think I agree with the conclusions, housing and financial support is one element, equality between sexes in household tasks certainly another, but finally, perhaps our job as parents is to inculcate the habit of socialising with others into our kids, especially when they get to the teenage years.
Why birth rates are falling everywhere all at once - a limited 🎁 https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/8bf630d4-6e20-42c7-bb33-e98dd6a01571

Following California implementing a law raising its minimum wage to $20 for more than 500,000 fast-food workers in the state in 2024,
Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of research firm Beacon Economics, offered a warning about the state raising its minimum wage.
“California’s well-intended push to reduce income inequality via wage floors is beginning to have a significant negative impact on some of our most vulnerable workers
—our youth, particularly those from lower-i…

Economists warned California not to raise the minimum wage to $20. They were wrong in almost every way so far, another economist says
“The results are nowhere as dire as predicted,” Berkeley’s Michael Reich told Fortune.

When asked what it means to be a good news consumer, 20% of US adults mention being discerning, 17% following the news, 13% getting news from quality sources (Elisa Shearer/Pew Research Center)
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/20

What Americans think it takes to be a good news consumer
One of the most common things Americans associate with being a good news consumer is a sense of skepticism or discernment.

The incredible analytical work of John Burn Murdoch @… along with some other colleagues is one of the main reasons I subscribe to the FT. It's rather expensive but absolutely worth it.
https://fediscience.org/@Ruth_Mottram/116582689708855765
Ruth_Mottram - This is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated analysis, exploring convincingly why birth rates are crashing basically everywhere and while there are certain many factors, the smoking gun is actually a smartphone.
So what to do about it? I think I agree with the conclusions, housing and financial support is one element, equality between sexes in household tasks certainly another, but finally, perhaps our job as parents is to inculcate the habit of socialising with others into our kids, especially when they get to the teenage years.
Why birth rates are falling everywhere all at once - a limited 🎁 https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/8bf630d4-6e20-42c7-bb33-e98dd6a01571

Zelensky says Ukrainian forces retake up to 435 square kilometers in the south, foiling Russia’s plans: https://benborges.xyz/2026/03/08/zelensky-says-ukrainian-forces-retake.html

California Towhee emerging from the bath. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. April, 2026. OM System OM-1 M.Zuiko 300mm F4 MC14 #laarboretum #towhee #bird

Seven families of victims in the Tumbler Ridge shooting in Canada sue OpenAI, accusing it of failing to warn authorities about the suspect's ChatGPT activity (Clare Duffy/CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2026/04/29/tech/openai-tumbler-ridge-canada-shooting-lawsuit…

Families of Tumbler Ridge shooting victims sue OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman
Seven families of victims in a February school shooting sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday, alleging the company and its ChatGPT chatbot were complicit in the injuries or deaths of their children.

A 20-year-old man was arrested early Friday after allegedly throwing an incendiary device at a North Beach home belonging to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Open AI spokesperson Jamie Radice confirmed to SFGATE that Friday morning, Sam Altman’s North Beach home had been attacked with a “Molotov cocktail” and threats had been made against the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

Man arrested after Molotov cocktail attack on SF home of Open AI CEO
On Friday morning, a man was arrested following an attack on Open AI CEO Sam Altman's home and threats against the company's headquarters.

Dear British people, following your local elections, I regret to inform you that you are going to need to spend more time in the pub..
https://www.ippr.org/media-office/closure-of-community-spaces-fuelled-tinderbox-for-far-right-to-spark-southport-riots-says-report