It is no secret that the sexual revolution has led to a drastic decline in family formation and childbearing in Western society. The decline in birth rates among native Europeans within the last couple of decades is unprecedented in human history. Sadly, the Italians are leading the way. When it comes to birth rates, the country of Italy is ranked among the lowest of all Europe.
Studies show that Italy’s population peaked in the years 2016 and 2017, but then began to see a demographic decline. Italy’s national statistics agency, Istat, reported that there were only 435,000 births in Italy during 2019, the lowest number ever recorded in the country. Paired with the 647,000 deaths that same year, it portends a bleak future for the country.
The steady rise in migrant and immigrant births helps to offset the declining domestic birth rates. But the fear remains that Italy will soon pass the point of no return. This is the point where the number of new-born native Italians number fewer than the newborns of immigrants. According to one study, Italians will be the minority in their country by 2080 with 50% of Italy’s inhabitants hailing from Africa and Asia.
President Sergio Mattarella laments the falling birth rate of native Italians, claiming that, “This is a problem that concerns the very existence of our country. The fabric of our country is weakening, and everything must be done to counter this phenomenon.”
Adding to the two principal drivers of the decline—decrease in birth rates and an increase in emigration of native Italians—there is now a third: The impact of the pandemic and heavy toll it has taken on the population of the country.
The COVID-19 lockdowns have severely impacted marriages. The number of marriages fell by half in 2020 due to the lockdowns, reports La Stampa. Only 85,000 weddings were celebrated in 2019, only half of the 170,000 celebrated the year before. This will certainly contribute to the decline in births in the near to immediate future.
The consequences of COVID go beyond the reduced number of marriages to many other aspects of life. Thousands of Italians have died from the China Virus and thousands upon thousands more were robbed of a chance at life because of the stress caused by the pandemic and also the greatly increased use of contraception. In August 2020, the Italian Industry of Health issued new guidelines on pharmacological abortions in Italy making it legal to obtain an abortion-inducing drug up to the ninth week of pregnancy.
Abortion is another pandemic that has struck humanity, and one which had increased not only in Italy but globally over the past year. According to statistics from Worldometers.info, by January 18, 2021, more than 2 million abortions had taken place worldwide. In other words, in just the first 18 days of the new year abortion had claimed more victims than the pandemic had in the entire year prior.
Gian Carlo Blangiardo, the president of Istat, believes that it is “legitimate to hypothesize that the climate of fear and uncertainty and the growing difficulties of a material nature generated by recent events will have a negative impact on the fertility decisions of Italian couples”.
Women in Italy are said to be rejecting children in a kind of silent “protest” against deteriorating economic and social conditions which are affecting every aspect of life in Italy. The numbers certainly bear this out. In the month of December 2020, 15 Italian cities recorded a 21.6% drop in childbearing in comparison to December 2019.
However, despite the pandemic, a spark of hope is coming from the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), a national-conservative political party in Italy led by Giorgia Meloni. Fratelli d’Italia have submitted to the government of Rome an important motion that requests that it “officially proclaim Rome as a ‘City for Life’ and to include this general principle in the Statute of Roma Capitale.”
If the government of Rome declares itself to be a “City for Life,” perhaps it will have a ripple effect on the rest of Italy, and perhaps on all of Europe. For, if nothing changes, not just Italy but all of Europe is on a fast track to commit demographic suicide.
Katarina Carranco is the Director of PRI’s Rome Office.
