Evento n.32

Repeatedly evoked by all the actors of civil society and by politicians, the family is the true foundation myth of Italian society. But is the family really declining or doomed as many claim? What statistics show is that the family is changing, but remains the basic unit of all Western societies, in particular the Italian one. Unlike those of central and northern Europe, Italian families are held together, first and foremost, by strong blood ties that increasing affluence has not at all weakened. What we have seen in the past century is a radical change of the motives for creating a couple: from mutual interest (or family interests) to mutual attraction (the romantic couple), to alternative forms of marriage. But these changes are something that Italy shares with other affluent countries.