Italy's fertility rate falls as women reject childbearing

The size of the Italian family has shrunk dramatically, according to government statistics. The definitive version of Italy's 1991 census, recently published by the National Institute of Statistics, shows that the average family fell to 2.8 members compared with 3.4 in 1971. Most families have either only one child or none.

Underlying the drop is a fall in fertility that has put Italy on course for zero population growth. In the 10 years before the census was taken, Italy's population grew by …