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Italy: A land of low Birth Rate by Desri Dillinaco http://www.fgritaly.com 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. Italy was officially a Catholic country until 1985, when its status as a Roman Catholic state was discontinued. For a nation where the family unit has been of paramount importance, this trend seems unusual. Other traditionally Catholic nations, like Ireland and France, have the highest and second highest birth rates in Europe. Even Sweden has a 50% higher birth rate in comparison to Italy. These increased numbers may be due to better government-controlled child and health care facilities as well as incentives for families that have more children. 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. Apart from Italy, Russia, Japan and some Eastern European countries are also following a similar trend. There is now a growing concern that the existing pension systems in these nations will not be able to cater to the aging population if fewer aging people will contribute to it. Social and public policy makers feel there have been various factors that have contributed to this fall in birth rates. One possible line of thinking is that in the earlier days a large number of children were considered indispensable to help in the farms or run the family business. It was also expected that they would look after the aging parents. It was felt that having more children was a sort of insurance for the old age. But nowadays, people when they grow old, are less and less dependent on their children. The provision of pension has contributed to this kind of thinking. Others have noted that the requirement of paying higher taxes to support social programs such as pensions also decrease present-day wherewithal to have more children, simply because families have less take-home pay. Another explanation for falling birth rates is the increased number of women in child-bearing years that work full-time. Depending on country of residence, child care programs vary. Countries like Norway are more generous than Italy with government-funded day care and flexibility to work part-time and keep ones position open during a year of maternity/paternity leave. In all, the declining birth rate in Italy is certainly a reality that needs to be addressed with regard to how todays 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. |