Italy's Ghost Towns and Villages | Demographic Winter Report #26

 Reporting on the crisis of rapidly falling fertility

 

1. Finland offers more perks to stop its declining birth rate. Women shrug it off – PassBlue January 27

https://www.passblue.com/2025/01/27/finland-offers-more-perks-to-stop-its-declining-birth-rate-women-shrug-it-off/#:~:text=To%20make%20parenthood%20more%20appealing,and%20heavily%20subsidized%20day%20care.

           

“Finland, once a model for reconciling the demand of work and family life, is grappling with a rapidly declining birth rate amid a growing desire by adults to remain child-free. Despite generous parental lave policies, high-quality child care, free education and universal health care, Finland’s fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level of 2.1, reflecting a broader trend across Europe.” Finland’s TFR fell from 1.87 in 2010 to 1.32 in 2022.

 

2. Social Security at age 90. The death watch begins: 8 years and counting — W. Patrick Cunningham for Population Research Institute January 20

https://www.pop.org/social-security-at-age-90/

 

“In my original article, I pointed out that the widespread practice of contraception and abortion had reduced U.S. fertility rates from 3.4 children per female in 1963 to 1.8 in the mid 1970s. With fewer workers paying into the system, and a huge boomer retirement pool coming of age beginning in 2012, the system’s Ponzi-style financing scheme was simply not financially solvent in the long run.”

 

“The latest Trustees Report admits this. It points out that after 2033, under current assumptions of demographics and economics, benefits will either have to be slashed, taxes increased or both.”

 

3. Italy’s birth rate crisis is irreversible, say experts — The Telegraph, January 13

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/01/13/zero-babies-born-in-358-italian-towns-amid-birth-crisis/#:~:text=Italy’s%20declining%20birthrate%20overall&text=The%20collapse%20in%20birth%20rates,the%20situation%20was%20%E2%80%9Cirreversible%E2%80%9D.

 

“Hundreds of Italian towns and villages had no baby births in 2023, contributing to a dramatic decline in the population that could threaten the country’s future.”

 

In 2023 zero births were recorded in 358 villages and towns, compared to 328 in 2018.

 

It’s forecast that by 2050, Italy’s population will decline by five million, or almost 10%. By then, more than a third of Italians will be over 65, “leading to workforce shortages and acute difficulties in funding the welfare system.”