L’inverno demografico. Dinamiche familiari e migratorie nell’Italia della crisi

Recent studies report that bells of demographic alarm are ringing for Italy. After a period of about fifteen years, when fertility levels registered a relative upturn and where migratory inflows suggested signs of a “demographic spring”, it seems to be back in the middle of winter. The paper addresses this issue by presenting the major changes in family formation, fertility and migration dynamics that occurred in Italy during the economic crisis. By using time series from the Istat database, and making special reference to regional disparities exacerbated by the crisis, the article notes that some long-term trends have slowed down (such as divorce rate, increase of fertility, and the net migration balance from abroad), while others have speeded up (cohabitation, legal separations, postponement of the first child and the tendency for Italians to migrate abroad) precisely in conjunction with the current recession.