The Family in Italy: A Few Features Today

The following stats were put together by Valerio Bernardi to help picture some of the profound changes in Italian society in the last 40 years. The facts come from The National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT 2007) and reflect a current trend in the ‘bel paese’.

According to the ISTAT research in Italy from the 1970’s up until the year 2007:

  • There are fewer marriages and those who are getting married, are older in age. The marriage rate is for
    every 1000 persons, there are only 4.3 who are married. The average age for those who get married is 30 years old for women and 32 years old for men.
  • The number of children desired in a family is 2.1 but the average is only 1.3
  • Marriages and the number of children are diminishing for Italian couples, but the stats are being increased by immigrants.
  • Separations and divorces are growing constantly in number and are nearly doubling in the last twenty years. The current rate is that one in four marriages end in divorce. The average age of the woman when she files for a separation is 40 years old and 43 years old for the man. The children (when present) in 83% of the cases, they are given to the mother.
  • In the 1950’s, the classic Italian nuclear family was made up of 4-5 persons. Today more than half of the families are made up of only one or two people. One-fourth of Italian families are made up of single people.
  • Young people are waiting longer to move out to live on their own. In general, 1/3 of young people (34
    years old) at home. This is the case because of the instability of their future career.
  • 46% of Italian couples have only one child. In single parent homes, an enormous majority of parents that live with the child is the mother.
  • In Northern Italy, 30% of couples live together. Almost half of these couples have children. 25% of
    marriages happen after a period of living together.
  • More than a third of families live with the elderly (65 years and older). Roughly a fourth of the
    families have minors. More than 20% of the families are all elderly. It seems that a problem that presents itself beyond the care of minors is the care of the elderly.
  • The younger the children are the more possibility exists that the woman can work. In couples without children, 75% of women find work. 50% of women with children work and if she has three or more kids, the statistic crumbles to 40%.
  • Domestic violence still remains a problem. Roughly 15% of women have suffered from domestic violence.
  • More than 50% of women who work have the help of a grandparent in the home.
  • Even with all these problems, the major part of those that live in a family say that they are
    satisfied in their relationships.
  • About 1/3 of the Italian families claim that they cannot handle an unforeseen expense of 600 euro.
  • Italy is next to last place in 15 developed countries in the EU for social care (homeless shelters,
    assistance for the elderly, etc.)

In conclusion, if there is an unraveling of the institution of the family that is well represented from these stats, the Italians still have faith in this institution, but, there is little help from the Government
to resolve these daily problems.