Are smartphones to blame for declining birth rates?

Could phones be the reason for more than 30% of the decline in the fertility rate among women? Well, researchers are pointing to smartphones as a potentially significant factor.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a 24% drop in the fertility rate since reaching a peak in 2007 - that's the same year Apple released the iPhone.

In the early years of the iPhone, AT&T had an exclusive contract. So, researchers compared fertility rates in areas that had widespread AT&T coverage to counties with little or none.

Researchers said that as smartphones became common, the time spent with friends and intimate activities fell sharply.

"The working theory is that smartphones may be changing human behavior. People are spending less time socializing in person, people are dating later, they are having less intercourse and forming fewer long-term relationships," emergency medical physician, Dr. Stephanie Widmer, said.

Experts also said that other factors must be taken into account as well, including more access to contraception and economic reasons, including childcare costs.