BBC NEWS | Europe | The EU's baby blues
The BBC site above fills in some of the gaps in understanding the various reasons behind Europe's dire birth rate, a topic mentioned here quite a few times recently.
The page about Italy's low rate has some surprises:
Laura Callura, 38, who lives in Rome says she is typical of many Italian women.
"I became a mother at 36 and that's not unusual here," she says. "A lot of my friends had their first child between the ages of 33 and 38.
"Here in Italy we start life much later than people in northern Europe. University courses take longer to finish and it's harder for young people to get into the job market.
"I started my first job when I was 25 - but that is quite unusual. Most Italians don't start their career until their late 20s."
Jeeze, no wonder Italians are so happy - they don't get around to working until they're nearly into their third decade!
ReplyDeleteMust admit this sounds a bit warped to me though; I expect only a minority of Italians go to university (just as in other countries) and I expect only a very small elite get to avoid work for the firt thirty years of their lives.