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Essay: How Italys Secularization and Urbanization Lead to Decreasing Population

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  • Published: 1 April 2019*
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The first National Geographic theme that my research paper relates to is how to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface. This theme has to do with how populations are distributed across Earth’s surface. My research paper is on the decreasing population in Italy. This theme relates to my paper because the spatial organizations of people throughout Italy are one of the reasons the population is going down. Due to urbanization, people are beginning to move to cities more and more. The cities provide many jobs for men and women. This then leads to women not wanting to have children due to the time and energy a full time career requires. The urbanization of Italy and the desire to live in cities has caused a decrease in the population. The rural areas of Italy are becoming less and less populated. The second National Geographic theme that my research paper relates to is the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface. This theme involves the migration of people from rural areas to urbanized cities. Advances in agriculture and technology also play a part in this theme. The decreasing population in Italy connects to this theme because of the characteristics and migration. Cities are becoming more urbanized and people are wanting to live more materialistic lifestyles. Women want to be able to have a full- time job and make money for themselves. Jobs are available in the city’s which results in people migrating to this area. Both of these National Geographic themes relate to the decrease in population in Italy.

When most people think of an Italian family, the word big comes to mind. However, in the past recent years the stereotype of large Italian families with all their kids has disappeared. According to The Guardian, Italy has become a “dying country.” In 2014, there had been 5,000 less births than in 2013. The Italian Health Minister told the guardian, “we are very close to the threshold of non-renewal where the people dying are not replaced by new-borns.” The number of births minus the number of deaths was recently calculated as a negative number. In order to fix this the government is trying to persuade the young people to not migrate and work abroad, but this isn’t exactly working. The average birth rate for Europe is 1.58, but Italy specifically has an average birth rate of only 1.39.  According to The Guardian, the people of Italy need a “wake up call and change in cultures.” An article on Lifestyle said that in 2013, there were 10.1 deaths per 1,000 people. When looking at the births however, there were only 8.94 per 1,000 people. Italy’s population has been decreasing since 1976 and keeps getting worse. This is an issue that effects the economy, society, and health of the country.

According to The Local, even the Pope is concerned about the decrease in Italy’s population. In front of a large crowd, the Pope said couples who don’t want children are “selfish” and part of a “greedy generation.” The Pope told the crowd, “A society with a greedy generation, that doesn’t want to surround itself with children, that considers them all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society.” Many Italians were offended, but he later apologized. He said that he believes children “rejuvenate and enrich lives.”

The one thing that is helping the decreasing population is the immigration. As of 2012, around 4.3 million people lived in Italy who were not born there. In 2011, 6.8 percent of the population was foreign born. However, in 2012, this number went up to 7.4 percent which is the only thing stopping the population from completely shrinking.

There are many different factors that contribute to the population decline, but according to Ricardo Casciolli, the main explanation for this is Italy’s loss of its religious identity. “The people of Italy no longer believe in a future,” he says. They don’t picture themselves having lots of children and a big family. In the Life Site article, Ricardo Casciolli brought up the word secularization which is when religion loses social and cultural significance. Secularization has caused more use of contraception and has risen the number of divorces in Italy. According to Life Site, 80% of Italy is Christian. However, attendance in Mass is the lowest it has ever been. On the spot surveys surveyed Italians about how many times they have been to church recently and only 15% said they were at mass on all 4 previous Sundays. With things like birth control, there are now ways for women to prevent getting pregnant. As of 2011, there were around 986 thousand divorces a year. With this amount of divorces, women are choosing to not have any children due to the fact that they don’t want to be a single mother. Instead of staying home and raising their child, women are forced to go out into the work world to make a living for themselves. Secularization is a big factor in the decreasing population of Italy, but there are other things effecting this too.

Urbanization is the second factor that is having a negative impact on the population of Italy. With the desire of a more materialistic lifestyle, couples are beginning to move to cities and start their career there. According to The Local, Ernesto Galli Loggia wrote in an Italian editorial, “This is the Italy of today. A country whose so-called civil society is immersed in modernity, with 161 phones for every hundred inhabitants, but a population who do not read books…a who hold the European record for hours spent each day in front of the television.” According to The Guardian, by 2020 70.9% of Italy will be living in cities. This means that only 29.1% will be living in rural areas. The cost of living in the city is a lot more expensive, which then leads to another factor of the population decrease; lack of money.

When The Local interviewed Silvia, an Italian woman in her 40’s, she told them “if you have no money it would be irresponsible to put a child into the world.” The desire to live in a big city combined with raising a child is something that many young couples can’t afford. With an unemployment rate of 12.4% in Italy, not only do young couples have a lack of money, but also a lack of a job. This is causing young people to live at home with their parents and not start a family. This isn’t because they don’t want to, but because they simply can’t afford it. There is no space in their parent’s home to start and raise a family. Until women have a steady job and a home to live in, they don’t want to have any children. The problem with this is that sometimes this might not be until the women is 40-50, which is often considered too late to have a child. Women believe there is no reason to put a child into the world if they do not have a stable enough lifestyle to do so.

The most common explanation for why the population in Italy is decreasing is because women are beginning to work more and more. The Local interviewed several different women age 20-30 and asked why they think women are not having as many children. Marzia, age 20, answered this question by explaining how women being in the work force is becoming more common. “They’re thinking about their careers, not about having children,” she said. Balancing a career and a family is a lot to handle. After a long work day, they want to be able to go home and relax. If they had children, time after work would be occupied by them. The government has attempted to encourage women to have children by giving them child benefits. The most recent benefit is an 80-dollar bonus a month for the first 3 years after the child’s birth. Eventually, the Health Minister of Italy wants to possibly double this amount to assist with the decline.

The population decline in Italy is doing nothing but hurting this country in many ways. With urbanization coming late and fast, younger people are commonly spending more money on leisure and clothing. However, with the majority of the population being 60 and over, expensive consumer goods are not going to be purchased as often. Statistics in 2005 showed that a household with a single person under age 35 has an average monthly spending of 2,010 dollars. A household with a single person 65 and older has an average monthly spending of 1,375 dollars. These statistics also showed that the household with a young person spent 6.5% on leisure activities and the household with the older person spent 3.5%. This could potentially negatively affect the economy and market of Italy. The labor force is also going to be impacted by the population decline. There are going to be less skilled and qualified workers which may lead to a decrease in immigration policies. Companies are going to need workers and there will not be enough people to fill these positions. The government is going to have to allow more immigrants to come into the country in order to get more workers. The only positive to this population decline is pharmacies getting more business. The older population is going to need drugs and medicines in order to live longer. These pharmacies are going to be a crucial place for the majority of the Italian population. The Italian government is trying to find solutions to the major population decrease, but it is continuing to get worse. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the population of Italy is projected to be about 52,364 in 2025. By 2050, it is approximated to be even worse with only 42,962 people. Hopefully the people of Italy can soon realize how much this population decrease can affect many aspects of their country.

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