Low Birth Rates in Italy
- by Desri Dillinaco
- Published on 6/14/06
- Article views: 1390
Italy, the world center of the Catholic Church and place of deep-seated Catholic tradition has changed, paradoxically, into a country with the second-lowest birth rate in Europe and the West after Spain at 1.2 per woman (as reported by Global Agenda Magazine), which translates to one child per woman.
It was brought out in an article in April 2004 in the Sunday Telegraph that Sweden's Birth rate was close to Italy's though 50% higher. In order to arrest this situation, the Italian Government started offering 1,000 euros to every woman who had a second child.
In any society which is traditionally Catholic, the family is considered as the vital unit. Thus, this low birth rate in Italy appears strange. Ireland and France, on the other hand, other traditionally Catholic countries, have the first and second highest birth rates in Europe. These numbers may be explained by more generous government-funded child and health care and benefits for families that have children.
It is a cause of concern that this trend will result in having a large number of people who are old and there are only a few people contributing gainfully to the society. This situation is likely in countries like Russia, Japan, Italy and other eastern European countries. This phenomenon of low birth rates is being studied by people who study social and public policy in Europe.
Some believe these pay-as-you-go pension systems actually have a direct impact on birth rates, making the older population less dependent on their children for day to day needs. In other words, children in the past were a kind of investment in ones future security. The more children one had, the greater chance of being cared for in old age and the more hands to help on the farm or with the family business.
Another explanation put forward for the declining birth rates is that individuals have lesser amount of money left with them to take care of more children. This shortage of money has been attributed to contributions to social programs such as pensions.
Another cause for the declining birth rate is the fact that more women are working full-time during their childbearing years. Child-care programmes of different countries vary. For example, Norway has better financial and infrastructure facilities as compared to Italy. Norwegian day-care centers are government funded and mothers have the option to work part-time, without affecting their position at work. They also get longer maternity leave.
In all, the declining birth rate in Italy is certainly a reality that needs to be addressed with regard to how today's young people will be supported in their old age. However, this problem is arguably less serious than the opposite situation of extreme population growth in developing countries.
Desri Dillinaco is the occupier and web designer of Italy Inc. which is the premier resource for Italy information.
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