Social infertility: What's behind falling birth rates?

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  Available now on the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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  Each day on America's southern border, migrants are arriving in the hope of a new life.

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  But it is an exhausting and dangerous journey.

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  This is James Naughty and I've come to meet the people motivated by their faith to help to protect the migrants from harmony.

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  Wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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  Hello, I'm Lucy Hockings from the BBC World Service.

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  This is the Global story.

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  The global population is growing and it's not expected to peak until well into the second half of this century.

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  But the number of children people are having is actually decreasing around the world.

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  From a persistent cost of living crisis to the rapid cultural change of this hyper digital era, the factors fueling this trend aren't so easy to define.

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  As more and more countries see their population age, some fear that unsustainable pressure will mount on the critical social infrastructure which holds communities together.

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  So is it possible to plan ahead to limit the impact of falling fertility rates?

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  And could we find ways to benefit from it long term?

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  With me Today is the BBC's population correspondent, Stephanie Hegarty.

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  Hi, Stephanie.

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  Hi.

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  Thanks for having me.

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  You've been studying population trends for a long time now.

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