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The banquet of Aeolus

Author

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  • Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna

    (Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD))

Abstract

During the last fifteen years in the Western countries, the higher is the proportion of people aged 20-30 living in the parental home, the lower is fertility. In this paper I suggest that the familistic structure of family and society can help in understanding both these demographic behaviours, looking at the Italian case. Nevertheless, these patterns could hold in the strong-family area as a whole, i.e. the Mediterranean Europe. The familism refers to some social norms managing the relationships among members and generations within the nuclear family and kinship. Direct and indirect connections between familistic norms and marital and reproductive behaviour are described, using data from several sources for Italy during the new demographic transition. Finally, I argue that the triumph of the familistic society could be a pyrrhic victory, because the native Italian population risks being unable to reproduce itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna, 2001. "The banquet of Aeolus," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 4(5), pages 133-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:4:y:2001:i:5
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2001.4.5
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, June.
    2. Giuseppe A. Micheli, 2000. "Kinship, family and social network," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 3(13).
    3. Cigno, Alessandro & Rosati, Furio Camillo, 1992. "The Effects of Financial Markets and Social Security on Saving and Fertility Behaviour in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 5(4), pages 319-341.
    4. Bettio, Francesca & Villa, Paola, 1998. "A Mediterranean Perspective on the Breakdown of the Relationship between Participation and Fertility," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 22(2), pages 137-171, March.
    5. Ron Lesthaeghe & Paul Willems, 1999. "Is Low Fertility a Temporary Phenomenon in the European Union?," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 25(2), pages 211-228, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility decline; Italy; late leaving the parental home; familism; strong family system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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