World Population Day—“Empowering Young People to Create the Families They Want in a Fair and Hopeful World”, 11 July 2025

World Population Day is an annual event, observed on 11 July every year, aiming to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on 11 July 1987, the approximate date on which the world’s population reached five billion people. World Population Day aims to increase people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health, and human rights.

The theme of World Population Day 2025 is “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world”. Global fertility rates are falling, prompting warnings about “population collapse”. But the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s State of World Population report shows that the real issue is a lack of reproductive agency—many people, especially young people, are unable to have the children they want. World Population Day 2025 highlights this challenge, focusing on the largest-ever generation of young people.

In celebration of this day, we invite you to explore a curation of insightful articles, journals, and Special Issues across various fields, including sociology, economics, human resources, and humanities. By sharing these findings, we call for ensuring that young have the rights, tools, and opportunities to shape their futures.

“The Marriage Behavior of the Greek Population from 1991 to 2021: A Study Through Gross Nuptiality Tables”
by Vasilis S. Gavalas
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020032

“Indian “Boarding School” and Chinese “Bachelor Society”: Forced Isolation, Cultural Identity Erasure, and Literary Resilience in American Ethnic Literatures”
by Li Song
Humanities 2025, 14(4), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040068

“Forecasting Daily Activity Plans of a Synthetic Population in an Upcoming District”
by Rachid Belaroussi and Younes Delhoum
Forecasting 2024, 6(2), 378-403; https://doi.org/10.3390/forecast6020021

“Notes toward a Demographic History of the Jews”
by Sergio DellaPergola
Genealogy 2024, 8(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8010002

“Creating Sustainable Climate Change Havens for Migrating Populations in the United States and Other Global Sites”
by Elizabeth C. Hirschman
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(12), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120663

“World Population Growth: A Once and Future Global Concern”
by Karl-Erik Norrman
World 2023, 4(4), 684-697; https://doi.org/10.3390/world4040043

“Demographic Delusions: World Population Growth Is Exceeding Most Projections and Jeopardising Scenarios for Sustainable Futures”
by Jane N. O’Sullivan
World 2023, 4(3), 545-568; https://doi.org/10.3390/world4030034

“What If Moms Quiet Quit? The Role of Maternity Leave Policy in Working Mothers’ Quiet Quitting Behaviors”
by Tingting Zhang and Chloe Rodrigue
Merits 2023, 3(1), 186-205; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3010012

“Does Civic Engagement Support Relational and Mental Health of Urban Population?”
by Michal Hrivnák, Peter Moritz, Katarína Melichová and Soňa Bellérová
Societies 2023, 13(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13020046

“The Construction of the “Older Worker””
by Hannes Zacher and Cort W. Rudolph
Merits 2023, 3(1), 115-130; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3010007

“Population Studies and Human Health Inequalities from a Socio-Demographic Perspective” Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Peter Curson Deadline for submissions: 31 October 2025	“Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Human Resource Management: Policies and Practices” Guest Editor: Dr. Natália Teixeira Deadline for submissions: 20 December 2025
“The Transition to Sustainable Health and Development: Economic, Policy and Society” Guest Editors: Dr. Wang-Kin Chiu and Prof. Dr. Hon-Ming Lam Deadline for submissions: 30 December 2025	“The Well-Being of Socially Vulnerable Groups in the Unsteadiness During Social Movements” Guest Editors: Dr. Alexis Cloquell-Lozano and Dr. Carlos Novella-García Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2026