"Italy’s birth rate has declined every year since 2008, but the pandemic pushed it into a precipitous nose dive.... [Just like a range of European politicians] Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni blamed her nation’s baby bust on a lack of traditional family values. Sharing a stage with Pope Francis himself, Meloni revealed where she believes the solution lies, calling for a 'return to a country in which being fathers and mothers is a socially recognised value and not a private matter.'...
[T]he European Values Study [however]... provides a wealth of data on Europeans’ attitudes to a wide range of ideas and values.... [It reveals that n]ot only is there no positive correlation between levels of traditional family values and a nation’s birth rate, there is actually a weak negative correlation between the two....
"Correlational data like this should not be used to draw definitive conclusions ... But this data should warn against a myopic focus on traditional family values for those politicians who see them as a solution to or shield against falling fertility rates.
"Indeed, seated next to her on the conference stage in May, Pope Francis had a different message to share than Meloni. Asked to consider why Italy is becoming a nation of fewer and fewer children ... he did not blame a lack of traditional family values for Italy’s vanishing schools. Instead, Pope Francis pointed to 'prohibitively expensive houses,' 'sky-high rents,' and other high costs of parenthood.
"European policymakers should pay attention to Pope Francis’ words. As we have recently argued in 'Works in Progress' magazine, the last great demographic wave to sweep the West – the Baby Boom – was delivered by progress in medicine, household technology, and access to housing that made becoming a parent easier, safer, and cheaper. What these developments represent are positive, material improvements to the way people live their lives, not shifts in their deeply held values."~ Phoebe Arslanagic-Wakefield and Anvar Sarygulov, from their article 'The value of family: Traditional values don't deliver babies'
Wednesday 20 September 2023
How to fix the west's 'baby bust': make life affordable again
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With some Italian heritage I know a little of Italian "family values", and I can say they with little doubt they prioritise loyalty to your biological family more than most other developed nations. If anything, I suspect it's those same family values that are responsible for the low birth rate, because the culture encourages young adults to stay with their parents rather than strike out on their own. They even coined a name to describe this phenomena, "bamboccione"- a grown man who acts like a boy.
There is a documentary, Birthgap, which sheds some light on this subject.
Anyway, if you don't have value family, why would you want one?
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