Will the world see a baby-boom post Covid-19?

With the world in quarantaine, will we see a baby-boom in 8-10 months? After famous large power-outages, or any other form of restriction of movement (basically locking people into their homes, leaving few options for leisure) articles appear about expected surges in newborn babies.

It’d be a logic expectation to have, as it seems that being locked in a small space with your significant other will trigger nothing less than your most extreme fantasies. However, research of the world’s most famous power outages has shown nothing of the like.

“It is evidently pleasing to many people to fantasy that when people are trapped by some immobilizing event which deprives them of their usual activities, most will turn to copulation,” demographer J. Richard Udry wrote in an article published in 1970 on the effects to the New York City blackout on births.

An article published on Snopes.com, a fact-checking reference site, makes a similar point: “Nine months after such events — blackouts, blizzards, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, ice storms, and even strikes by professional football players — reports about ‘baby booms’ in local hospitals invariably appear in the media,” the article stated. “However, these ‘booms’ typically prove to be nothing more than natural fluctuations in the birth rate (or, in many cases, no variation in the birth rate at all).”

Of course, expanding your family has never been more rational. Besides physical attraction, family planning is something that has never played a bigger part in the decision to create new life. Financial freedom, as well as a secure future, will be considered when taking the decision. The insecurity that Covid-19 brings is unparalleled to the modern world. Will the global pandemic be over in a few weeks, or will several waves of new cases continue to hunt humans over months to come? Will it trigger future parents to hold back putting a newborn into the world?

Maybe this time it’s different. Whatever the outcome might be, Newborn24 will be well equipped to reap any benefits if the population numbers do surge at the end of 2020.