Naples is experiencing a worrying population decline. For years, the city held the national record for birth rates, but has been overtaken by cities as diverse as Trento and Bolzano. This reversal of trend is a wake-up call that cannot be ignored.
In Campania, there are 1 million 680 thousand inactive people: young people and women who neither work nor study, a mass of individuals outside the labor market that even exceeds the number of employed people, equal to 1 million 626 thousand. Of these inactive people, 955 thousand are young people who live without any employment, representing 27% of the regional population.
"Few regions fare worse than us," says Vincenzo Tedesco, regional director of INPS Campania, emphasizing that two-thirds of employed people are men, while only a third are women, highlighting a gap that needs to be filled.
This alarming data emerges from the INPS social report for 2023, presented yesterday at the prefecture in the presence of the top management of the local social security institute, the national president of the INPS steering and supervision committee Roberto Ghiselli, the municipal councilors for Social Policies Luca Trapanese and for Security and Immigration Mario Morcone, the Campania secretaries of Cgil, Cisl and Uil, and with the testimony of Don Luigi Merola.
"The gender gap, youth emigration from Campania, and the declining birth rate are issues that must be addressed," said Camilla Bernabei, president of the regional committee. INPS Campania.
The report also highlights the demographic decline: between 2008 and 2019, the birth rate fell by 18%. "Naples, which in 2002 was first in Italy for birth rate, was overtaken by Trento and Bolzano, and twenty years later it dropped to third place," explains Roberto Bafundi, director of the metropolitan coordination of INPS Naples.
As of December 31, 2023, the population of Campania was 5.590.076, 2.099 fewer than the previous year. People over 65 make up 20,9% of the total population, compared to a national average of 24,3%. The pandemic has worsened the negative balance between births and deaths, with -16.591 in 2022, while the population continues to age.
There is an increase in requests for civil disability and the use of the inclusion allowance, the new income support measure introduced by the government to replace the citizen's income. In Campania, 104 thousand applications were accepted in Naples alone and 64 thousand in total in the region, significant numbers. The single allowance, on the other hand, is received by 729 thousand families in Campania.
The causes of this decline are multiple:
Economic crisis and job insecurityThe difficulty in finding stable, well-paid work discourages many young people from starting a family and having children.
Lack of services for families: The lack of daycare centers, kindergartens and elderly care services makes it difficult to reconcile work and family life.
High cost of livingRent, bills, and essential expenses are increasingly expensive, putting a strain on the family budget.
Population aging: The growing number of elderly people and the decline in births are profoundly changing the composition of the Neapolitan population, with significant repercussions on social services and economic dynamics.
Emigration: Many young Neapolitans are forced to leave their city to seek their fortune elsewhere, further contributing to the demographic decline.
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Comments (1)
It is true that Naples has a demographic decline but I do not know if it is right to blame only the crisis and emigration. There could also be other reasons that influence births. Maybe young people do not want to have children anymore, or maybe they do not have the conditions to do so. In any case, the situation seems serious and more concrete measures are needed to encourage families.