Abstract
Italy is demographically one of the oldest countries in the world. There are 20.4 % of over 65-year-olds in the total population, as there are in Germany, and this is second only to Japan with its 22.7 %. This ageing has occurred because longer life has pushed up the age pyramid and reduced the birth rate. Consequently, fertility has narrowed the base of the said pyramid. The total fertility level in Italy in the 1950s of the twentieth century was about 2.3 children per woman. It rose to a maximum of 2.7 in 1964–1965 and went down to mere replacement level in 1976. It fell below that level from 1977 onwards. The unabated decreasing tendency reduced the level to 1.2 in the 1990s, to then later rise again to 1.4 children per woman. This chapter examines the factors causing reduced fertility and considers changes in the family patterns and in reproductive behaviour. The analysis of the improvements in survival will then seek to explain why Italy has become one of the four countries in the world with the highest longevity (life expectancy is 81.37 years). As a result of that, this chapter concludes, Italian society will in the future become even older.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The UN itself also calculates a dependence index it considers the lowest age of adulthood: 25.
- 3.
The absolutely lowest point was in 1995: 1.19. A figure lower than 1.3 is recognised as ‘lowest-low fertility’.
- 4.
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm. Hong Kong and the Channel Islands were omitted in drawing up the classification.
- 5.
ONU, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm.
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Ge Rondi, C. (2014). Italy’s Population: A Portrait. In: Beretta, S., Berkofsky, A., Rugge, F. (eds) Italy and Japan: How Similar Are They?. Perspectives in Business Culture. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2568-4_2
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