The ‘typical’ Italian is increasingly reluctant to marry. This is evident from a report published on Wednesday by the National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). Accordingly, Italians marry five years later than they did twenty years ago. The average age of marriage for men is 36.5 years (2002: 31.7 years) and that for women is 33.6 years (2002: 28.9 years).
“Today’s young people are experiencing increasingly longer transitions to adulthood,” says the National Bureau of Statistics report. In 2022, 67.4 percent of 18 to 34 year olds lived with their parents, almost eight percentage points more than in 2002 (59.7 percent). The age at which Italian women have their first child has also risen to 31.6 years, compared to 29.7 years in 2002.
The birth rate fell for the 15th time in a row
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has made raising the birth rate one of its priorities, but has so far had little success in reversing demographic decline. Italy has had one of the lowest birth rates in Europe for decades. According to ISTAT, this was 1.24 children per woman in 2022. In Austria there were 1.41 children per woman. The number of births in the country fell for the 15th time in a row in 2023; only 379,000 children were born in Italy. This is the lowest number since the unification of Italy in 1861.
Source: Krone
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