Simone Collins
Simone Collins is an author and pronatalist advocate. Her work focuses on global fertility rates and demographic decline.
7 claims checked on air: 2 context 1 overstated 2 supported 2 unverified
What they said on air - supported
Women in developed countries with low social support experience a short-term hit to happiness during early childhood before it rises in the long run.
"Women especially do take a short-term hit per the research that I've seen, and then it goes up over the long run." (said at 1:03:42)
Longitudinal demographic research confirms the 'parenthood happiness paradox': parents—particularly mothers—often experience an initial drop in subjective well-being and life satisfaction during the early transition to parenthood and early childhood years, particularly in institutional contexts lacking strong family policy supports, whereas long-term parental well-being tends to recover or exceed that of non-parents in later life stages.
- supports: Parental Well-being Surrounding First Birth as a Determinant of Further Parity Progression… (Demography 2015) · cited 96x in the literature
"Analyzing longitudinal data from Germany, we find that the experience during the transition to parenthood, as measured by changes in subjective well-being, predicts further parity progression. A drop in well-being surrounding first birth predicts a decreased likelihood of having another child." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - context: The Parenthood Happiness Puzzle: An Introduction to Special Issue. (European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie 2016) · cited 44x in the literature
"Contrary to conventional wisdom, recent studies argue that parenthood is not necessarily related to higher parental subjective well-being (SWB). However, parenthood remains an important aspect of adults' lives, also in highly developed societies where childbearing has become optional, financially expensive and affecting other goals in life." (abstract, background, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Being either significantly underweight or significantly overweight reduces a woman's likelihood of getting pregnant.
"Yeah, if you're super underweight or super overweight, you're less likely to get pregnant." (said at 3:30:04)
Large prospective cohort studies and a 2024 meta-analysis confirm that being outside the normal body mass index (BMI) range—both underweight and overweight/obese—is associated with reduced fecundability (the per-cycle probability of conception), prolonged time-to-pregnancy, and increased risk of subfertility or infertility in women.
- supports: Association between preconception body mass index and fertility in adult female: A systema… (Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 2024) · cited 20x in the literature
"Female with overweight/obesity (FOR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.90), obesity (FOR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.83), and overweight (FOR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88, 0.99) was associated with the significant time-to-pregnancy (TTP) prolongation (reduced fecundability). Interestingly, underweight was moderately associated with prolonged TTP in females (FOR = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91, 0.99). Female overweight/obesity was associated with an increased risk of subfecundity (OR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.20, 1.72) and infertility (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.31-1.94)." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Preconception and Early-Pregnancy Body Mass Index in Women and Men, Time to Pregnancy, and… (JAMA network open 2024) · cited 37x in the literature
"Compared with normal weight in women, underweight (odds ratio [OR], 1.88 [95% CI, 1.22-2.88]), overweight (OR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.11-1.63]), and obesity (OR, 1.67 [95% CI, 1.30-2.13]) were associated with increased odds of subfertility." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
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