ROME: Italy’s birth rate fell by nearly 4% last year due to economic pressure and a lack of help for working mothers, bringing the fertility rate to its lowest level since 1945, a report found on Tuesday.According to a report published jointly by the Birth Rate Foundation and the Italian National Statistics Institute (Istat), 355,000 babies will be born in 2025, and the fertility rate (ie the average number of children per woman) has dropped to 1.14.The report found that Italy would need a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to maintain a stable population without immigration.“The desire for motherhood and fatherhood persists, but it often conflicts with job insecurity, high costs, incompatible lifestyles and inadequate services,” the report said.(AFP report)
