The last 150 years have witnessed marked changes in Italian families, under many different aspects - e.g.: the age at and the way in which young people leave the parental home; the relation between the organization of family and economy; the reproductive behavior, the levels and reasons of marital instability, the social norms about coresidence between generations and, more in general, intergenerational relations. When analyzing these changes, however, it is worth noting that: firstly, family change has been generally much slower than what is usually deemed in popular discourses about the family. Secondly, in most of the cases change has been non linear. Thirdly, the timing, extent and direction of these changes have been different across the different areas of the country and across different social classes. On the one hand, population statistics have contributed to document, study and measure these phenomena. On the other hand, the way in which statistics were collected, disseminated and made available to the scientific community have been largely influenced by family changes and by the desire of scholars of understanding the micro-level mechanisms behind social change. Thus, parallel to the development of research in the field of family studies, available population statistics have changed from macrolevel data concentrating on essential characteristics and dynamics of the Italian population, to micro-level longitudinal data. The aim of the paper is twofold. The first part of the manuscript will provide a short overview of some of the most relevant family changes occurred in the last 150 years - as documented by available population statistics. Moreover, as far as available data allows it, variations across geographical areas and social classes will be considered. Secondly, by concentrating on the topic of intergenerational relations – i.e. co-residence arrangements between generations, parents-child contacts and exchange of support – the paper will further explore the existing relation between the evolution of population statistics and family change.
Changing Italian Families and Population Statistics What we know and what we miss / Albertini M.. - ELETTRONICO. - 10:(2011), pp. 6-18. (Intervento presentato al convegno Statistics in the 150 years from Italian Unification tenutosi a Bologna nel 8-10 Giugno 2011).
Changing Italian Families and Population Statistics What we know and what we miss
ALBERTINI, MARCO
2011
Abstract
The last 150 years have witnessed marked changes in Italian families, under many different aspects - e.g.: the age at and the way in which young people leave the parental home; the relation between the organization of family and economy; the reproductive behavior, the levels and reasons of marital instability, the social norms about coresidence between generations and, more in general, intergenerational relations. When analyzing these changes, however, it is worth noting that: firstly, family change has been generally much slower than what is usually deemed in popular discourses about the family. Secondly, in most of the cases change has been non linear. Thirdly, the timing, extent and direction of these changes have been different across the different areas of the country and across different social classes. On the one hand, population statistics have contributed to document, study and measure these phenomena. On the other hand, the way in which statistics were collected, disseminated and made available to the scientific community have been largely influenced by family changes and by the desire of scholars of understanding the micro-level mechanisms behind social change. Thus, parallel to the development of research in the field of family studies, available population statistics have changed from macrolevel data concentrating on essential characteristics and dynamics of the Italian population, to micro-level longitudinal data. The aim of the paper is twofold. The first part of the manuscript will provide a short overview of some of the most relevant family changes occurred in the last 150 years - as documented by available population statistics. Moreover, as far as available data allows it, variations across geographical areas and social classes will be considered. Secondly, by concentrating on the topic of intergenerational relations – i.e. co-residence arrangements between generations, parents-child contacts and exchange of support – the paper will further explore the existing relation between the evolution of population statistics and family change.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
