A Bleak Future for Italy
With the population expected to fall by a third over the next 50 years, Italy is considered to be in a baby crisis. The fertility rate has hovered around 1.2 births per 1000 population, far below the 2.1 needed for population maintenance. One of the pitfalls of both Womens Lib and Socialistic Ideals is that the state alters the natural flow of life so that it is inconvient to raise children. New, often Progressive social pressures change the norm. Italy's figures are indicitive to what is happening throughout Europe excluding Ireland and France.
