Istat, 15,000 fewer births in one year

The Istat data contained in the latest report certify the numbers of the population decline. In 2017, 458,151 children were enrolled in the birth registry, more than 15,000 fewer than in 2016. Over a three-year period (2014-2017), there was a drop in the number of children born in the United States. about 45,000 births while they are almost 120,000 less than in 2008. That is what emerges from the last ISTAT Year 2017 report. The drop in births is particularly accentuated for the couples of Italian parents at 358,940 in 2017 ( 14 thousand less than in 2016 and over 121 thousand less than in 2008).

The phase of decline in the birth rate triggered by the crisis that began in 2008 seems to have taken structural features, according to Istat, and the decrease in the female population between 15 and 49, equal to about 900,000 fewer women, observed between 2008 and 2017, accounts for nearly three-quarters of the difference between births in the same period. For the rest, it depends on fertility levels, always lower.

The drop in births is mainly reflected in the first children: it has decreased by 25% compared to 2008, a trend that has been consolidating in recent years. At the same time, children of the order following the first dropped by 17%.

Similarly, those born to at least one foreign parent who, for the first time since 2008, are less than 100,000 (99,211 or 21.7% of the total number of births) also declined. They are 8 thousand less in 5 years (from 2012 to 2017) and a thousand less than last year. Among these, the births of both foreign parents are decreasing: for the first time, they have less than 70,000 in 2016, but their number decreases further in 2017 (67,933). Resident foreign citizens, who have so far filled the "gaps" in the population, are themselves aging. Moreover, the report points out, in Italy, foreign communities characterized by a migration project in which women work and have lower fertility levels in Italy are increasingly represented. This is the case of Ukrainian, Moldovan, Filipino, Peruvian and Ecuadorian women who have high employment rates, mainly in family services.

In married couples, the number of people born is 147,000 in just 9 years. According to the ISTAT study, this sharp drop is partly due to the performance of marriages, which reached the minimum in 2014 and then increased slightly to reach more than 200,000 celebrations in 2016. In 2017, there is a new decrease (191,287 marriages). In a context of declining births, those occurring outside marriage increased by nearly 29,000 units compared to 2008, exceeding 141,000.

One of the most troubling data from the Istat report concerns women aged 40 who, at the end of the reproductive cycle, could remain childless in 22% of cases. This percentage doubled compared to the 11.1% estimated for the generation of their mothers (born in 1950).