Reproduction in Italy and its Regions in the Framework of the European Demography

Abstract

It is about one century that scholars report on the European demographic crisis. Better to say demographic crises in Europe, because of their diversity in time and locations and the variety of their causes, developments and effects. There have been out-migrations and mortality crises (mainly due to the two World Wars) in-migrations and the lengthening of life but, mainly, the important reductions in cohorts’ reproductivity have produced substantial slow-downs in populations’ growth and large changes in their demographic structures. The monograph tries to give a current picture of the consequences of those demographic crises by comparing the situation and the recent history between European countries, focusing in particular on the aspects of reproduction. In the first part, the European countries’ demographic situation is analyzed in its recent and long-term evolution, with particular attention to the reactions in front of the 2008 financial and economic crisis. The demographic changes and its components of the European countries (former URSS excluded, but the Baltic republics) are studied in the long run, as well as their consequences on the main indexes of population structure. Migrations are considered especially in their effects on the number of women in fertility age. Starting from the most recent UN’ population projections, the influence of population structure and of possible migration flows on future developments are outlined. In the second part, the couple formation and, mainly, the reproduction are studied. The evolution of fertility in the European countries is analysed since 1960 with reference to its main measures separately and in their mutual connections. In the third part, fertility in Italy and its regions is studied by both period (since 1952) and cohort of mothers (since from those born in 1933) perspective.