Gigi De Palo (Photo: Stati Generali della Natalità)
On May 12 and 13, the second edition of the General States of Natality was celebrated in Rome. The event, organized by the Fondazione per la Natalità, chaired by Gigi De Palo, who is also president of the Forum of Family Associations, garnered national attention. Beyond the fight against the falling birthrate (or “demographic winter” as the Pope has dubbed it) –which is of great concern in Italy, Malta and Spain as they have the lowest birthrates in Europe–, the event has become a powerful civil platform for the defense and support of the family.
Under the tagline “Si può fare!” (“It can be done!”), institutions and business people, journalists, politicians, athletes, scientists and doctors, intellectuals and artists, expressed their commitment to the future of the country before thousands of students.
The Family Act
The event included Italy’s Minister for Equal Opportunities and Family, Elena Bonetti, from the Italia Viva political party. With the approval of the so-called Family Act, which has just been enacted, she promises that the policies necessary for its application will be finalized before the end of the legislature, and that they will address reasonable criticism about the landmark, universal allowance (which has a budget allocation of 20,000 million euros), which came into force in March. According to the ISEE (Indicatore della Situazione Economica Equivalente), the allowance, which varies depending on the families’ financial situation, is granted to guardians for each dependent child under the age of 21. For individuals with disabilities, there isn’t an age limit to receive the checks.
The minister acknowledged in an interview with the newspaper Avvenire on the opening day of the General States of Natality that making everyone’s load lighter is necessary, as well as the importance of creating alliances between generations and genders, and empowering women and young people in particular. The Government is well aware of this and has chosen to invest in these demographics like never before, not only in terms of economic resources, but also in terms of political vision and commitment.
One of the new law’s key objectives is to support families’ in educating their children, through budget allocations to help alleviate economic burdens beyond daycare. Tools to support children’s education throughout their lives must be activated. On the other hand, paternity leave will be reformed and improved, and business initiatives that support mothers will be encouraged.
A new family narrative
Along these lines, one of the sessions of the congress raised the need for a new family narrative. It’s not enough to describe and analyze a list of well-known difficulties. Politics in Italy have to learn to be much more daring when it comes to matters related to the family, as Avvenire’s Massimo Calvi writes. For example, with regard to the climate crisis, he maintains: the threat to the planet’s future isn’t the children that are allowed to be born, but adults who never really grow up, even if they have children of their own, those who live with the delusion that they can infinitely consume resources in virtue of a pathological and self-destructive individualism. Politics must be able to courageously communicate to families that «it can be done», because the community is willing to support new births and the family unit, always and in each of its dimensions: the family is a resource, not problem which needs fixing. And the same should apply to immigrant families, because they are first and foremost families, not “immigrants” or “foreigners.”
“Bringing a child into the world is worth it because it’s much more beautiful than it is difficult.” (Gigi De Palo)
The conversation surrounding this new narrative – with interventions from various media figures – also included a theatrical performance on parenthood the second day of the congress. The political presence at the event was also wide-ranging and diverse: representatives from Azione, Partito Democratico, Lega; the president of Fratelli d’Italia; the national coordinator of Italia Viva; economic deputy minister from the M5S; the president of the Parliamentary Commission for Childhood and Adolescence of Forza Italia. And the idea of universal, shared social and political commitment to support the family was recognized. In the words of Enrico Letta, secretary of the Partito Democratico, the universal allowance and the Family Act are very positive outcomes of this legislature: “They have also been achieved thanks to the work carried out in recent years by the General States of Natality.”
Unity and diversity
This diverse representation of political figures delighted Pope Francis, as he expressly stated in the message read at the inauguration: “Things can change if, without fear, going beyond partisan interests and ideological barriers, we commit together.” Because – he concluded – “It is the moment to give real answers to families and young people: hope cannot and must not die waiting.”
Gigi De Palo has been insisting on the issue for seven years now. Political leaders have thanked her for having managed to place something so complex at the center of public debate. As she acknowledges in an interview, «the challenge of these seven years has been to restore dignity and importance to the question of the family.» She now urges Italy to work from a pro-natality approach: «This is not a time for shortcuts: you can’t cure a tumor with painkillers.» And she summarizes the actions from the mix of congress participants and attendees: “Great business leaders, athletes, doctors, writers, actors, have spoken on the beauty of parenthood. And they’ve sent a wonderful message: despite the effort it takes and its complexity, bringing a child into the world is worth it, because it’s much more beautiful than it is difficult.”