Elon Musk weighs in on how pandemic caused 'baby bust', instead of boom

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk on Sunday took to Twitter to share how the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a lower birth rate in high-income countries as opposed to the "baby boom" that was expected due to people being forced to stay indoors.

Musk also shared a report from the Scientific American titled 'The Pandemic Caused a Baby Bust, Not a Boom'.

The Tesla CEO stated how not having kids can become a problem.

I’m talking about not having kids in the first place. That’s the problem.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2022

"Humanity did not evolve to mourn the unborn. But we should," Musk added.

The father of seven recently welcomed his youngest daughter -- Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, or "Y" for short -- with former partner and Canadian singer Grimes.

While the report shared by Elon Musk was published in 2021, it was not the only one to highlight the falling birth rate.

The Scientific American article was based on a study conducted by the Bocconi University in Italy. It found that birth rates in 22 high-income countries (including the US) from 2016 through the beginning of 2021 had "statistically significant declines in birth rates in the final months of 2020 and first months of 2021, compared with the same period in previous years."

The decline was especially steep in Italy where the birth rate dropped by 9.1 per cent followed by Hungary (8.5), Spain (8.4) and Portugal (6.6). In US, the birth rate fell by 3.8 percent, the study found.

Another report by the National Geographic in December 2021 found that the birth rate in China had fallen by a whopping 15 per cent.