Italy is facing a double
demographic challenge, with the 2015 birthrate the lowest since
the country's unification in 1861, coupled with a 12.4% increase
in Italians leaving the country, according to data released
Friday by statistics bureau Istat.
Istat said 488,000 babies were born in 2015 - eight for
every 1,000 residents - down by 15,000 births compared to the
overall figure for 2014.
In response to the data, Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin
told ANSA that the country's low birthrate is its main economic
problem.
She said the ministry will conduct studies on support for
working women and the country's so-called baby bonus, a monthly
per-child payment to low-income families.
Compounding the low birthrate was an increase in 2015 in
both emigration and the country's mortality rate.
Istat said 100,000 Italian citizens were removed from the
registry of residents in 2015 after moving abroad, up 12.4% over
the previous year.
There were also 45,000 foreign nationals who left the
country.
The mortality rate was up 9.1%, with 653,000 deaths in
2015, an increase of 54,000 compared to 2014.
At a rate of 10.7 deaths per 1,000 residents, Italy's 2015
mortality rate is among the highest registered in the post-war
period, with fatalities concentrated in the 75-95 age range.
Italy's population did get a slight boost, however, from
28,000 Italians who returned from abroad and from 245,000
foreign nationals registered as residing in the country last
year.
"The government's commitment is clear - to create active
policies that put the family at the centre," said Regional
Affairs Minister Enrico Costa.
"This is not a single provision, but a comprehensive
network of measures, acts and decisions, above all in the tax
sphere, aiming to help and develop the country's backbone.
"Next week motions to support the family will be debated in
the Lower House".
Consumer groups Federconsumatori and Adusbef said the data
show that couples are giving up on starting a family because
they can't afford to support one.
"It won't be possible to talk about a true recovery until a
recovery is triggered on the job front, creating new incomes and
lightening the load on families," the groups said.
Consumer group Codacons said the cost of raising a child in
its first years of life is estimated at about 10,000 euros a
year.
"Many Italians nowadays can't afford to bring a child into
the world anymore, and they're forced to postpone becoming
parents to better times, in the absence of concrete support from
the State, as today's Istat data attests," Codacons' Carlo
Rienzi said.
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