In March, in Pagliara dei Marsi, the birth of a little girl, the first in thirty years in this Abruzzo village, became a symbol in Italy, which has been plunged for several years into a deep demographic crisis. “Her baptism, in the church right in front of her house, brought together the whole village, cats included. The presence of a baby here is so rare that Lara has become the main tourist attraction. It is because his birth is a symbol of hope… writes Angela Giuffrida in the report of Guardian which opens our file this week.
Italy is not the only country where the fertility rate is collapsing. The phenomenon is global. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, we are witnessing a collapse in the birth rate everywhere. Even France, which until then was an exception in Europe, is affected. Not since the First World War have the French had so few children, according to the INSEE report published in January. And for the first time since the Second World War, the natural balance is negative: in 2025, there were 6,000 more deaths than births in France.
Faced with these figures, the French government announced a plan aimed at combating the fall in fertility, including sending a letter to people aged 29 to make them aware of the issue. Stupor in the foreign press. “Who can imagine, in all rationality, that I would give birth when I barely have enough to support my own?†Lydia Spencer-Elliott was surprised in February, in a scathing post published by The Independent and translated on our site, where she denounced a “injonction à faire des bébés†which in no way regulates the “real problems†which discourages having children.
The opening of our file on the aging of the world population.. COURRIER INTERNATIONAL
This is the whole problem that runs through our file. If hope returned with the birth of Lara (and a generous bonus for her parents) in Pagliara dei Marsi, nothing says that the little girl will be able to go to school near her home nor that other children could be born nearby, due to lack of schools or maternity wards. The birth crisis is a vicious circle that feeds itself: for lack of children, schools empty or close; Due to a lack of schools, potential parents are hesitant to have children.
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