Leader: Daniele Vignoli (UNIFI)
Persistently lower-than-desired fertility in Italy is causing a process of "ageing from the bottom", i.e. a shrinking of the younger age groups with an increase in the share of the elderly groups in the population. WP2 deals with this problem with the following aims:
- to offer solutions to contrast the ageing from the bottom process based on an in-depth analysis of the cultural, economic, and institutional causes of low fertility, adopting a life-course perspective;
- low fertility is also related to the postponement of family decisions in a country with the highest mean age at childbirth in Europe. For this reason, it is of crucial importance to combine sociodemographic analyses with biomedical studies on sexual life, infertility, and medically-assisted procreation;
- following a life course approach also means addressing family life in older age, and the consequences that experiences in several domains of life (e.g., partnerships and employment histories) may have for late-life outcomes.
- Design of a new PhD programme PopS (M6)
- Policy brief on indicators and measures affecting fertility (M18)
- ~3 scientific publications on family policy and fertility; and family and sexual life at older ages (~M30)
- Laymen summary of main results (M34)