Vegard Skirbekk
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vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk
@vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
2K followers 580 following 93 posts

Global Demography, Fertility, Aging, Cognition, Productivity, Religion. Interdisciplinarity.

Professor Columbia & Oslo - PI @theCEFH

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=no&user=OZOgxGEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
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Vegard Skirbekk is a Norwegian population economist and social scientist specializing in demographic analysis and cohort studies. He is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and also Professor of Population and Family Health at the Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University. .. more

Sociology 22%
Political science 22%
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vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Nov 16
My book, "Decline and Prosper!", presents a comprehensive and evidence-based overview of the causes and consequences of global fertility decline.
I argue that low fertility is inevitable, yet also has positive effects. We should help people have the children they want bit.ly/35Hm3Yk
Decline and Prosper!
This book considers the historical context as well as the full breadth of factors that drive fertility rates across the globe.
bit.ly

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · 12h
Orphaned adolescent girls in Africa & Asia face higher risks of early sexual debut & teenage pregnancy, which is linked to wealth and education gaps. New study with Anjali Singh, Dil Bahadur Rahut and Tetsushi Sonobe
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk, Bernardo Lanza Queiroz, Karen Benjamin Guzzo , and 1 more

mccompans.bsky.social
MC Compans @mccompans.bsky.social · 4d
🎉 New research out with @fertdem.bsky.social and @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social !

💡 Time to ART birth decreased since the 2000s, and is shorter for those in their late 30s — likely reflecting improved treatment efficiency and faster access to care.

👉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41152834/
Time to birth for spontaneous and ART births among infertile groups - PubMed
While assisted reproductive technologies enable individuals facing infertility issues to achieve a live birth, they require more time to succeed. However, since the 2000s, time to ART births has decreased, with the shortest observed among those initiating conception attempts in their late thirties. …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · 15d
Indonesian Govt adds Rp330 bln for expanding contraception access: Minister - ANTARA News en.antaranews.com/news/387585/...
RI Govt adds Rp330 bln for expanding contraception access: Minister
Indonesia’s Ministry of Population and Family Development has increased funding for the Family Planning (KB) Program by Rp330 billion (US$19.2 million) ...
en.antaranews.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · 17d
Many regions of the world seek to reduce fertility - lower fertility argued to be the reason why
"... GDP per capita in Indonesia is USD 4,925 and in Bangladesh USD 2,593, compared to only USD 1,581 in Pakistan"
www.brecorder.com/news/4038893...
Alarming population growth
Pakistan is in the process of formulating a National Health and Population Policy (2025–2034) with an emphasis on...
www.brecorder.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · 20d
Our study finds that higher social interaction at work (ages 30–65) linked to lower dementia risk & better cognitive health later in life based on population level data. #BrainHealth #DementiaPrevention psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · 20d
Great to work with you, Gustavo and Bernardo!
blqueiroz.bsky.social Bernardo Lanza Queiroz @blqueiroz.bsky.social · 20d
Last week UFMG hosted Semana do Conhecimento. In the event, students present the research they worked under the supervision of a faculty member.

Gustavo Freitas presented the project, with @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social, proposing an index of aging preparedness for countries in the world.

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

blqueiroz.bsky.social
Bernardo Lanza Queiroz @blqueiroz.bsky.social · 20d
Last week UFMG hosted Semana do Conhecimento. In the event, students present the research they worked under the supervision of a faculty member.

Gustavo Freitas presented the project, with @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social, proposing an index of aging preparedness for countries in the world.

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

planetucker.bsky.social
Christopher Tucker @planetucker.bsky.social · Oct 11
More baby bust alarmism by @joshuaqyang.bsky.social at @washingtonpost.com. This stuff just gets so old. Time to reimagine economics for an era of degrowth. Prosperity and wellbeing do not demand growth. Please read some @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social. www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...?
China’s demographic crisis means it’s going to run out of workers
China is experiencing unprecedented, and probably irreversible, population decline that will hamper its economic growth and its ambitions to rival the United States.
www.washingtonpost.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Oct 5
Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom | Pfas | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom
Tech companies’ use of Pfas gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought
www.theguardian.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Oct 4
Singapore's dragon year fails for the first time to raise fertility

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/co...
Singapore's 2024 dragon year fertility rate
Singapore's total fertility rate remained at a historic low in the 2024 dragon year, despite hopes for a baby boom, highlighting societal shifts. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstim...
www.straitstimes.com

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk, Lesley A. Hall

rebeccasear.bsky.social
Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Oct 2
“This Special Issue will provide an opportunity for population scientists to contribute to the conversations about pronatalism throughout the world. We welcome critical, theoretical, descriptive, and empirical submissions that explicitly focus on some aspect of pronatalism”
Contemporary Pronatalism in Demographic Context
Call for Papers Low and declining birth rates across the world have consequences for countries’ population size and structure. Concerns over the potential ...
link.springer.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Sep 30
Our new study in Eur J Ageing finds daughters’ life satisfaction declines due to frail parents’ care needs, not caregiving itself.

No effect on sons.

Explore the emotional toll of parental frailty: doi.org/10.1007/s104... #Caregiving #WellBeing #Aging
Frail parents and adult children’s life-satisfaction: a longitudinal analysis of Norwegian data - European Journal of Ageing
Earlier research has found that adult children’s caregiving for older parents is associated with a decline in life satisfaction. However, other research indicates that emotional stress in adult children might be related to the declining health and frailty of their older parents rather than caregiving per se. Hence, there is a possibility that the first set of findings (declining life satisfaction when giving care) reflects factors not specified in statistical models rather than the care provided by adult children. This study tests this possibility by investigating changes in life satisfaction among 3,094 adult children from panel data in Norway that includes multiple indicators of health and care needs in older parents, together with data on who is providing care. Declining life satisfaction was observed among daughters but not among sons, and these changes were driven by the frailty and care needs of their parents rather than caregiving per se. The findings indicate that it is not caregiving that affects life satisfaction but the circumstances leading to caregiving. In these situations, adult daughters may struggle with sources of distress beyond providing support and care. Further research should investigate these relationships in countries with different distributions of care between families and public care institutions.
doi.org

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Sep 20
Peak and current global fertility lower when accounting for mortality using the 2SNRR (2 Sex Net Reproduction Rate) relative to the Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Sep 16
‘One jab will do the job’: Pakistan begins rollout of HPV vaccine to millions of girls www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘One jab will do the job’: Pakistan begins rollout of HPV vaccine to millions of girls
Despite vaccination hesitancy, the end may be in sight for cervical cancer, which kills 64% of women with the disease
www.theguardian.com

vegardskirbekk.bsky.social
Vegard Skirbekk @vegardskirbekk.bsky.social · Sep 16
Fertility decline is misunderstood

📊 When mortality is considered, global fertility peaked at 4.1 children per woman in 1963, not the 5.3 suggested by TFR
🔍 In Middle Africa, TFR data suggests fertility peaked in 1987, 2SNRR shows fertility hasn't yet declined

link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...
Bringing mortality back into our understanding of fertility change: revisiting the onset of fertility transitions using net reproduction measures
link.springer.com

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

scienmag.bsky.social
SCIENMAG @scienmag.bsky.social · Sep 15
Reevaluating Fertility Changes Through Mortality Insights

In a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Population Research, researchers Valter Skirbekk and Tomas Spoorenberg argue for a paradigm shift in how we understand the complex interplay between mortality rates and fertility changes…
Reevaluating Fertility Changes Through Mortality Insights
In a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Population Research, researchers Valter Skirbekk and Tomas Spoorenberg argue for a paradigm shift in how we understand the complex interplay between mortality rates and fertility changes across various societies. Their work fundamentally challenges the dominant narratives in demographic research that have often treated these facets of population dynamics as separate phenomena. By innovatively revisiting the onset of fertility transitions through the lens of net reproduction measures, the authors illuminate significant insights into how mortality impacts reproductive behavior and subsequent population growth.
scienmag.com

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

rebeccasear.bsky.social
Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Sep 12
Unveiling Mexico's Demographic Transitions: "Our spatial analysis reveals a concentric diffusion pattern, where fertility changes spread outward from urban, high-SES municipalities" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>Studies in Family Planning</em> | Population Council Journal | Wiley Online Library
This study examines Mexico's fertility transition (1930–2015) and how socioeconomic status (SES), geography, and indigeneity shaped reproductive behaviors. Using net fertility—the number of surviving...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Vegard Skirbekk

pependp.bsky.social
Pepe Navarro @pependp.bsky.social · Sep 12
Excellent take on declining fertility in The Economist.

But why do they have to call it a "fertility crash"?

"Peak humanity" will happen much sooner than forecast. The consequences are that maybe, just maybe, humanity may avert extinction by overpopulation.

www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
Don’t panic about the global fertility crash
A world with fewer people would not be all bad
www.economist.com