For the first time since the unification of Italy, Italy has fallen below the threshold of 400,000 births a year, with a risk for the stability of the country. The reflections and proposals of Alessandro Rosina, demographer, Luigi Orfeo, neonatologist and Alberto Villani, pediatrician
In 2022, there were 393,000 births in Italy, with a drop of 184,000 since 2008 (the last year in which there was an increase in births). As a country we have already passed a point of no return: the Italian population can no longer grow, but will continue to decrease, explains Alessandro Rosina, professor of Demography at the Catholic University of Milan. Since 2007 the death rate has consistently exceeded the birth rate and this gap has now widened so much that, since 2014, not even immigration has been able to compensate for it. While on the one hand the Italian population will continue to decrease, also due to the decline and progressive aging of the female population of childbearing age, on the other hand the elderly population will continue to increase: the ultra centenarians have tripled in the last twenty years. Support the birth rate it also means reducing the imbalances between generations.
A recovery in births would mean producing wealth and coping with the increase in the elderly population with one of working age who would make its contribution to supporting pensions and welfare. This is why it is urgent to invest in young people. Just think that in Italy the 30% of 30-34 year olds are “Neet”, or people who do not study and do not work. This is one of the highest percentages in Europe, in Germany and other countries less than 10%. They are generations dependent on their parents who are not in a position to build a future for themselves. And for those who have children, there is the difficult reconciliation between work and family which penalizes women above all. If they work they give up having children, if they have children they give up working, limiting female employment downwards with consequences on the country’s capacity for growth and development, concludes Rosina.
Talk to the neonatologist
From the world of paediatricians, the appeal to support young people and parents. The Istat data that strikes me the most is not so much the one relating to declining births, but the inverted relationship between children (0-14 years) and those over 65. a phenomenon that occurred for the first time in the world in 1995 in Italy, but which today has more than doubled, in some regions even more than tripled. And an impressive figure – says Luigi Orfeo, president of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN) -. There is a consolidated tendency to postpone the moment of becoming parents, not for lack of will, but because young people are afraid of the uncertainty of the future. I happened to listen to a group of midwives, who experience the emotion of being born every day, and few of them had already planned a pregnancy. They all said they didn’t have time, while between 20 and 30 is the ideal time, because then the biological clock goes on. Also treatments against infertility are not zero riskand good to know.
We neonatologists see fewer children being born, but more problematic, also because the average age of the parents has increased too much. Today it is rare to find a child in the neonatal intensive care unit of a young and healthy couple, most of them are children of elderly couples, born through medically assisted procreation. Young people need to know that there is a increase in neonatal pathologies, where the average age of the parents increases at the time of delivery. a delicate subject, of course, but if we want to invert the curve of the falling birth rate, young people who would like a child and who need support or parents who have faced a very high emotional and economic investment with their first child should not be left alone and this conditions the choice to make others.
Talk to the pediatrician
Particular attention should be paid to women and the age-old question of reconciling children and work. The forecasts on the birth rate are always outdated for the worse – says Alberto Villani, head of the Bambino Ges Pediatric Hospital in Rome -. I don’t think the problem can be solved only with the single check, we must take note that our society is not oriented towards the developmental age, towards births. When will we realize that the mother of fifty years ago no longer exists? There are different, unmodifiable needs, we must take note of them. The only thing that could be done is to offer concrete services for all families. It could focus on kindergartens and schools as reliable places to guarantee care, care and growth for minors all day long, but substantial investments are needed. The benefits would be many. A school, with integrated afternoon services (and also an educational canteen), could guarantee sports activities every day, music education and the arts. Costs too high? By creating a virtuous system, with the contributions of the social network, in the medium term, we would go to prevent the physical and mental health of the youngest, which means preventing obesity, eating disorders and addiction-related diseases which are also on the rise in the Infant Jesus , with significant savings for the Health Service, guaranteeing its sustainability. Today’s children are lonely and angry and parents need help.
Fertility and weight
Obesity or excessive thinness can affect female reproductive health. In case of excess fat, a hormone (androstenedione) accumulates, capable of altering the hormonal balance and causing menstrual irregularities. Recent studies have shown that excess weight, even in women with regular cycles, significantly reduces the ability to conceive. However, in the case of underweight women there may be amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) which is often associated with the absence of ovulation. In men, it has been found that for every 20 pounds of body weight, the chances of being infertile increase by 10% due to an additional source of estrogen. Other studies have shown a relationship between the increase in BMI (Body Mass Index) and decrease in sperm concentration. Recovering the ideal weight, in most cases, allows you to be fertile again.
Event: States General of Natalit, 11-12 May in Rome
the third edition of the States General of the Natality (SGDN), the event that brings together the worlds of politics and the economy, institutions and civil society to reflect on solutions to reverse the demographic trend in our country. This year’s theme “SOS-Tenere” concerns sustainability, which is not only environmental, but also intergenerational. To achieve it, it is necessary to give ourselves a goal which, for Istat and politics, can be 500,000 new births a year by 2033. Do we aim for 10,000 more newborns each year? If we don’t reach them, there will be the collapse of those fundamental pillars on which our country stands, such as the school system, public health, pensions explains Gigi de Palo, president of the Foundation for the Natality. The SGDN will be on 11 and 12 May at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome (free admission upon registration) and can be followed live on the SGDN FB page and Youtube channel.
May 8, 2023 (change May 8, 2023 | 5:33 pm)
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