The Movement for Life of Civitavecchia launches an appeal to candidates for the role of mayor and that of municipal councilor in the next local elections. According to the association, there are not only important environmental, logistical, cultural or economic development issues that must concern the debate taking place between candidates in recent days, but they must be placed at the center of attention, as they are vital, also demographic issues, relating to the population, the acceptance of life and the birth rate.
“In a few years, in fact, our administrators could have to deal with the demographic decline that affects – in addition to the national territory – also our city, a decline that could have very serious consequences on development and the local economy, due to the lack of women and men, young people and children, necessary to ensure the city’s future, not only in terms of identity and demographics, but also economic and cultural. This perspective is not imaginary, but is the result of ISTAT investigations which daily warn us of the current situation: this is stated by the data which, in a recent conference organized by us in Civitavecchia with the then ISTAT president prof. Blangiardo on the topic “Decree birth rate, what future for Italy”.
Well, in the conference of the Movement for Life, it emerged that in our city (where until the 1990s there were an average of 600 births per year) the problem is serious: in 2022 only 283 children were born in Civitavecchia of 615 deaths. Civitavecchia follows the national trend, where, in 2022, in Italy we had 719 thousand deaths against 393 thousand births.
Unfortunately, a whole segment of the population in the city is now very small, either due to the reduction in the fertility rate or due to the significant number of voluntary abortions (over nine thousand from 1978 to today):
Hundreds of potential parents in their thirties and forties are missing, as are those who could have ensured demographic stability at childbearing age. Today we are unfortunately witnessing an enormous imbalance between births and deaths, and a worrying negative balance: in 2022 the negative balance between births and deaths is -332, that is, 332 children are missing, to balance the account with the 615 people who unfortunately disappeared in the same year. year and to ensure that the population does not suffer further reductions (only partially compensated by immigration). The demographic pyramid is sadly overturned, and the elderly outnumber the young, the growing birth rate risks compromising the stability of our economic, social and welfare system: an increasingly elderly population, in fact, increases the costs of welfare, i.e. the system social security, pensions, and the National Health System.
We therefore ask the mayoral candidates and councilor candidates to support young people and families, and to counteract the demographic decline of Civitavecchia, with great determination. The Municipality of Civitavecchia (and the Lazio Region) can do their part. It is therefore necessary to immediately develop and implement coordinated national and local policies capable of encouraging parenthood and removing the economic, contingent, material and social obstacles that limit the free choice to generate a new life. We need policies aimed at reducing situations of precariousness, interventions that allow housing stability, the possibility of accessing childcare services, the strengthening of benefits for maternity, remembering that we must think of newborns as an investment for the future of our society and the urban community, so that the “cost” of parenthood does not fall solely on mothers, fathers and families, but is partly shared by the community.
Dear future administrators and councilors, we therefore ask you to give priority and encouragement to the families who are opening up to life and to the associations that support it, not only in emergency terms, but with widespread commitments: we confidently await a response to our requests, necessary to ensure a real future for our city”.
