Rome:

With the plummeting birth rate reaching frightening proportions in Italy, the government is exploring ways to stop the advent of a demographic winter in the country. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to implement financial measures to woo couples to have more children.

PM Meloni has decided to allocate one billion euros to entice young Italians to have more children. It is also viewed as an attempt to make childbearing more attractive to Italians. Euractiv has reported that working women will receive more financial help from the government if they have two or more children.
The Italian government is also looking at ways to extend parental leave and hike the daycare funding. The last step is eligible for the second child or those who come after that. According to Meloni, these measures indicate that “a woman who gives birth to at least two children has already made an important contribution to society.”

In such a scenario, it is the responsibility of the state to compensate for this by “paying social security contributions”. According to AP News, the Italian prime minister is gunning for a change in attitude towards maternity. She wants to demonstrate that having children is not a hindrance to work or career. “We want to incentivize those who give birth to children and want to work,” she said.

Italy belongs to the league of European nations that are worst affected by the dip in population. In 2022, just 393,000 babies were born in the Mediterranean country, as per a report by Euractiv. Another shocking scenario is the fast-aging female segment of the population. Reports show that the average Italian woman does not have her first baby before turning 32 years old. Between 1964 and 2020, the birth rate in Italy plummeted from 2.66 to 1.24 kid per woman.

Meloni came to power by banking on the traditional family, Christian values and the need to stave off the demographic winter. She has mentioned “a great battle to defend families, identity, God and all the things that have built their civilization”.