STEADY DECLINE

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 98, 27 April 1935, Page 27

STEADY DECLINE

ITALY'S BIRTH-RATE

MUSSOLINI IS ALARMED!

In the latter half of the last century, Italy was at the top of the list of prolific nations in Europe. Her birth-rate averaged thirty-si* per thousand of the total population, and in some years, for instance, be tween 1881 and 1885, reached thirtyeight per thousand. Since then ther« has been a steady decline, until n<Mf many nations, including Russia, Bul« garia, and Yugoslavia,,boast birth-rates higher than Italy's,' states a writer in the "New York Times. 1' Only the extraordinarily low birth-rates prevailing in Britain, France, and Germany, save Italy' from figuring at the very; bottom of the list. Despite this fact, however, there is much alarm in Italy over the.population problem. It is pointed, out that there is a lower limit below- which the death-rate cannot fall, and there are indications that this point has nearly been reached.'lf the birth-rate, on the contrary, continues to fall with its present rhythm the day may soon dawn when there will be ."more graves than cradles' each' year." MUSSOLINI TOOK ACTION. ' ' Premier Mussolini was- ' the first Italian* statesman to point out, some iime years ago, that Italy was not longer ranked among the prolific nations. In his usual energetic style, hi immediately began a strenuous campaign to combat what he considered a grave national danger. The tax on bachelors was' the most sensational of measures adopted, but other and subtler means were found to try to induce people to have large families. Unmarried men, for instance, find it difficult to obtain work with any Government organisation. As far as can be seen at present, however, all such efforts to bolster upthe falling birth-rate have been dismal failures. When Premier Mussolini began his campaign the birth-rate averaged twenty-eight, but now it has de» clined to twenty-three per thousand. The fall of the birth-rate was especially underlined by recently published figures for 1934, which show the number of births to have been only 983,000. The falling birth-rate is attributed entirely to the crowding of people into cities. It is pointed out, in fact, that the birth-rate is invariably lower in cities than in the country districts. The birth-rate is especially low in! the lower middle-class families, white the upper classes are far from being the most sterile section of the population, contrary to genera) belief. Ths birth-rate is highest, of course, in th« purely agricultural areas, such ss exist in Southern Italy. . ,