This is what the public meeting promises to do «The future is young … but do young people still have the desire to generate life?» which will be held on 18 October at the Pia room of the LUMSA university in Rome.
The surveys carried out in recent years give contradictory results: all indicate that the desire to have children is decreasing, but with important variations: Eurispes (2020 – target 18-30 years) reports that 70.5% of the interviewees believes that having children is a priority in one’s life; also the BVA DOXA study and the Observatory of Contemporary Families (2021 – 25-40 years) indicate that 74% of young people want to have children in the near future; on the contrary, for the study Donat Cattin Foundation – Noto Sondaggi polling institute (2021 – 18-20 years) 51% of adolescents do not imagine themselves as parents; and the Swg study (2020 – 25-44 years) says that only 57% agree with the statement that «without a child, a person’s life is incomplete».
So, even in a climate that is certainly not favorable, there is a desire to bring children into the world that resists, in the face of a growing number of young people who instead believe they can fulfill themselves even without taking care of new lives. And it is understandable, the messages that come from society are not encouraging: for the current Italian culture, beyond the statements of principle, the choice to have a child is essentially individual, there is no social enhancement; on the contrary, the obstacles in the way are growing, just think of the precariousness of work and at the same time the organization of work itself which is not very flexible, which mainly hinders women.
But also the prevalence of unstable relationships, which do not give guarantees for the future of the child, and of a narcissistic culture, in which the self is at the center and there is no space to welcome someone else who asks you to «go down from the pedestal «. And finally, as the young people themselves point out, the lack of consistent, certain and lasting institutional aid, which is a sign that the State, the Municipality… recognize that having children is a precious asset.
On the other hand, there is a large slice of young people who resist and continue to want to have children. Because? What animates them? The BVA DOXA-Contemporary Families Observatory survey mentioned above tried to investigate this aspect too; it follows that the main reasons are the desire to build a family and the desire for motherhood / paternity. Furthermore, for 52% of the interviewees, children represent an enrichment, the greatest joy. Fewer are those who believe that having children is important for the future of Italy and the other European countries.
In short, behind the opening to the generation there is a desire for happiness and the completion of their lives, while those who do not want children have given up, motivated by the many worries on a personal and social .
Precisely in the days when the new Chambers begin their activity in Italy, this meeting proposes to the newly elected to put on the agenda a small but significant proposal to reverse the course, to relaunch a beautiful and challenging proposal to young people that meets their deepest desires. Hopefully this dialogue and proposals will be extended to European countries