The Demographic Tragedy of Ukraine: A Second Holodomor?[1] Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may be sealing the tragic fate of a country’s demographic. Although it is unknown how this war will evolve or when and how it will end, it is already substantially impacting the population of Ukraine, in part because of Russian ambitions to seize part […]
COVID-19 Data: What are we counting?
How many people have been infected by SARS-CoV-2? How many deaths have occurred? Nobody really knows the exact figures. There is a consensus that data on the number of COVID-19 pandemic cases and deaths are far from being exact. Additionally, in most cases, what is available for most users in national and international databases, dashboards, […]
Once upon a time people wanted to have kids (Part II)
Why would you have kids in a coronavirus-affected world? When the coronavirus struck us we were living already in ‘interesting times’ regarding how people planned and structured their family lives, as described in Part I of this post. So, many of you may be asking yourselves what the implications on fertility from this pandemic could […]
Once upon a time people wanted to have kids (Part I)
Imagining a world permanently fighting against a fertility drought. What would happen if suddenly women and couples decided not to have kids anymore? What would happen if none of the rationales that researchers have identified as the main reasons why people want to have kids, such as helping parents with family or agricultural tasks, supporting […]
Data, numbers, options and lifestyles in the context of climate change
If somebody told you that something big was happening, something that can seriously threaten your life and the lives of your family, would you care about it? Something that may affect: What you can eatWhere and how you can travelWhat you wear and how you dressHow much you have to pay for insurancesThe options you […]
How many people have lived in the World?
Neither floods nor plagues, famines nor cataclysms, nor even the eternal wars of century upon century, have been able to subdue the persistent advantage of life over death. Gabriel García Márquez The Nobel Prize in Literature 1982, Discourse during the Award Ceremony. A question that I had even before I decided to become a demographer […]