Societal Shifts: Literacy, Technology, and Global Fertility Disparities

The Crisis of Reading Habits in Higher Education

Currently, university professors share the opinion that students do not read. They lack the habit and fail to see the necessity of reading, nor do they actively seek solutions to this significant problem. Some universities have launched introductory courses because they argue that students arrive at the faculty poorly prepared.

Literacy and the Digital Shift

Handwriting has historically been key to the development of civilization, making possible discoveries like new drugs or understanding our historical past.

New technologies, namely the Internet, have changed how we consume information. Nowadays, young people read and seek information digitally. Reading helps develop various skills, such as:

• Interpreting a text correctly.
• Reading between the lines.

However, young people today often struggle to interpret even minimally complex texts containing subordinate clauses or metaphors.

Historical Context of Literacy (Joan Fuster)

As Joan Fuster noted, until the 19th century, literate people were scarce. Within Europe, Spain's figures for illiteracy were very high, hindering development. Furthermore, there was significant emigration to America or Europe, mainly France. The few people who had the privilege of reading at that time often discussed various issues. Today, young people recognize that reading is a necessity, but simultaneously view it as an obligation.

Global Disparities in Motherhood and Fertility

This journalistic text, written by Maria Janer Peace and published in the Today newspaper in 2004, aims to highlight the differences in pregnancy and motherhood between developed and developing countries.

Developed vs. Developing Nations

It informs us that in the Western world (i.e., developed countries), women increasingly delay motherhood and have fewer children. This is primarily because they wait to:

• Obtain a university degree.
• Secure a good job.
• Ensure a stable economy to support their child.

In contrast, in developing countries, women have children very young, often in their teens. This is due to insufficient information about contraceptive methods and the dangers associated with early pregnancy. Furthermore, their children may not reach adulthood.

Most women in developing countries who have many children often view them as a cheap workforce, as the children begin working from an early age to help bring money home.

These differences are excessive in our world: on one hand, a teenage girl becomes pregnant due to lack of information or because she views the child as an aid to the home; on the other hand, a forty-year-old woman in the developed world experiences a controlled pregnancy, fully informed of the risks involved in this stage of a woman's life.