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Religious Consultation|
Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2005 With baby, another bundle of Italian joy By Tracy Wilkinson LAVIANO, Italy -- Angelina Spiotta had always wanted to be a mother. Married for a year, she figured it was time. It did not hurt that her local government was offering parents almost $14,000 for every baby delivered in this struggling southern town. Spiotta gave birth to little Massimo last fall, ''not because of the money," she said, ''but the money is a help. It helps for the future." Across Italy, towns are dying, and these small deaths are a sign of what could happen to the country as a whole if its birthrate does not increase. As it stands, Italy's population could shrink by a third by 2050; until now, only an influx of immigrants has kept the numbers stable. The stereotype of the large Italian family in this heavily Roman Catholic country is a relic. For nearly a decade, Italy has had one of the lowest birthrates in the world. Many Italian women, citing primarily economic reasons, forgo bearing offspring altogether or, at most, have just one. So the town of Laviano is looking for ''bambini." Authorities are offering women money to give birth as part of a campaign to retain population and attract newcomers. ''I know someone doesn't have a baby just because of the money," Mayor Rocco Falivena said. ''But maybe this will keep some people from leaving, or make them think twice about leaving. We thought we could sound an alarm. Do something provocative." The money is doled out to the parents over the first five years of the baby's life. About 20 couples have availed themselves of the bonus since Falivena introduced the idea in 2003. When he became mayor a year earlier, he took over leadership of a dispirited town. Since an earthquake nearly destroyed the town in 1980, Laviano's population had dropped by half, to around 1,500. Only four babies were born in 2000; only four more in 2001. ''I realized it was the end of the village," Falivena said. It is too soon, and the numbers are too small, to speak of trends. But Falivena, 52, likes what he is seeing: Eleven babies were born last year, and residents said they know of a handful of people who moved to Laviano from neighboring towns to take advantage of the baby bonus. Specialists voiced less optimism. The few studies available indicate that a cash incentive may encourage a woman to have a baby earlier than she had planned, but that it will not encourage her to have more children than she had intended. Nor is a woman dead set against having children likely to change her mind because of the bonus. Falivena acknowledged that it will take a lot more to reverse his town's fortunes. Foremost is employment; residents need to make a living. But that, he said, is the vicious circle: Without people, the economy cannot be stimulated to provide the jobs to keep the people. ''We have no people," he said at the salmon-colored Laviano town hall. ''You can't plan activities. You can't create industry, or jobs. We have no strength to get back on our feet. If you want to open a shoe store, there is no one to buy shoes." Laviano, sitting in the Apennine Mountains 35 miles east of Salerno, has the feel of a ghost town. On a recent winter day, the sky was bright, the air was crisp, and there was barely a soul in sight. It was almost silent, except for birds and an occasional passing car. Almost half of the town's housing, most of it nondescript post-earthquake construction, sits empty. The only movie theater has closed. The town center consists of a town hall, a church, and a tangle of squat buildings down the hill. There is an average of fewer than 20 children in each of the only school's eight grades; the nearest high school is 20 miles away. The town's most prominent feature, on a ridge overlooking the center, is the overcrowded cemetery, where 300 people killed in the earthquake are buried. Spiotta, the mother of little Massimo, agreed with the mayor. Although the baby bonus will help ensure her son's education, she said, the real incentive to stay in Laviano is a good job for her husband. Right now, he does dead-end labor in a plastics factory a 45-minute drive away. ''If there is work, we would like to live here forever," said Spiotta, 24, who worked picking strawberries until her pregnancy. She spoke in her small, immaculate living room, full of new furniture and a large late-model television screen. Spiotta's parents were part of a vast wave of immigration in the 1960s and '70s from southern Italy to Germany, Switzerland, and other more prosperous countries. She was born in Germany and returned to Laviano with her family when she was 6. Antonietta Molinaro tells a similar story. She was born to parents who immigrated to Germany in search of work, and returned to Italy when she was small. For her, the baby bonus was a godsend: she had twins nearly a year ago -- double the money. She, too, said that the stipend helps but that the real determining factor for staying or going is employment. Her husband has occasional work as a welder, and she sews. In the meantime, Molinaro said Laviano is a great place to raise children. ''It is very quiet and peaceful," said the 25-year-old mother. The Italian government last year gave a 1,000-euro ($1,370) one-time payment to couples who have a second child, but the Laviano plan to pay for any child appears to be unique. Home About Us Newsletters News Archives Donate
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