Ruth Institute Blog

Dermot Grenham, Mercatornet.com

The received wisdom among demographers and other social sciences is that as countries develop economically and socially their fertility rates decline. However, a recent article in Nature¹ has shown that at higher levels of development, as measured by the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI), the fall in fertility goes into reverse. Could this be the answer to the problem of ageing populations? Read more…

Vincenzina Santoro Mercatornet.com

Is Italy breaking out of a demographic nose-dive?

Each year the Italian Ministry responsible for health presents a report to Parliament on abortion trends. Data presented a few weeks ago by Undersecretary Eugenia Maria Roccella of the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Policy brings encouraging news: Abortions have continued to decline among adult women and minors, an overwhelming percentage of Italian doctors refuse to perform abortions, and Italy has a low contraceptive prevalence rate. Read more…