The global trend towards smaller families is a reflection of people making reproductive choices to have as few or as many children as they want, when they want.

A new policy brief from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Youth in a Global World, describes what it's like to grow up in today's world, with a special focus on four major experiences in the lives of young people: schooling, health, marriage, and childbearing.

The document summarizes priority areas for WHO action based on global evidence. Improving the health and development of children and adolescents means that WHO will need to shape its implementation of the strategy to the epidemiological needs of specific regions and countries.