Italy abounds with these little shrines:

This one is on the pass leading towards Massarosa from Lucca. These shrines are dedicated to the Virgin Mary and are usually situated by a source of fresh water. They are adorned with blue and pink rosettes denoting the happy birth of a boy or a girl in answer to prayers to the Madonna.

The shrines are in effect ancient fertility sites and date back well before the advent of Christianity. For example, there’s one in the cave of Castelvenere on the side of Monte Penna near us in which Etruscan stylised votive statuettes have been found. I’ve described this fascinating cave at https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/the-tuscan-underground/ . In Castelvenere, too, there’s also a little stream denoting its importance as a centre of fertility rituals.

With an ever-decreasing birth rate such places have become even dearer to the hearts of many Italians.  Italy is now the country with the eleventh lowest native-birth rate in the world. (Monaco has the world’s lowest birth rate).

There are several reasons to explain the country’s decreasing birth-rate. Perhaps the most important one is that Italians love to cut a fine figure (‘fare bella figura’) and that means that their kids too must have the best of everything: the latest buggies, griffe clothes and so forth. Children are particularly loved to bits by Italians (no exclusion of children from classy restaurants, for example) and the way they are dressed are indications of the degree of love shown.

The reason, therefore,  for lack of children is connected with the difficulty of finding jobs and the fact that job mobility is avoided as much as possible . For that would take the young parents away from their own mums and dads, whose free child-care service is essential for any working couple.

Since 1990 there have been more deaths than births in Italy and this last year there were almost 150,000 fewer Italian birth than the previous year. The average Italian nuclear family today produces 1.34 offspring.

With already over 100,000 migrants this year voyaging across from Libyan to Italian shores (enough to equal the size of the population of Worcester in the UK) and with their birth-rate in excess of two per nuclear family (some with  as many as six or more – similar to the size Italian families once used to be in the previous centuries) and with other European countries closing their frontiers in northern Italy, one doesn’t have to be a statistician to realise that within a century the texture of the Italian population could be radically altered. It’s the reasoning behind the Italian government’s policy of spreading out migrants equally over the whole country, whether they are allocated in cities, town or villages – the last thing Italy wants is ethnic ghettoization.

The Italian government’s policy seems on the whole to be working, although if one goes to Prato, for example, ghettoization does occur (in that city it’s the Chinese). Do not be surprised, therefore, if you see black faces in the remotest hill villages of the peninsula.

In Bagni di Lucca, a traditionally conservative town with very inter-related families, this migrant spreading-out policy using a quota system has become a key issue in local politics. For example, the use of a hotel in an area near the thermal establishment at Bagni Caldi has upset many local people. It’s not just the number of migrants living in the ex-hotel, it’s the point that the native population of the town is ageing fast and decreasing while the migrant population is ever-increasing.

These are all very delicate issues. The point is, however, that, as much as it would like to, Italy can no longer cope with the never-ending flood of desperate people fleeing war and famine in Africa and the Middle East. For the first time the government here has decided to turn off the tap by introducing a new crime punishable by law: that of inciting illegal immigration through mafia-controlled people-trafficking.

NGO’s (or ONGs as they are termed in Italy) have also been targeted and, clearly in a large number of cases, there has been the simple motive of lucre for their ships in saving lives. Now, thanks to the lack of interest shown by other European countries, the absence of further resources to deal with the problem and in response to a growing impatience (which can, and does, so easily spread into populism and an increasingly hostile reaction to the newcomers) the government has finally realised that its priority is to stem the tide.

(World map showing birth rate by area: red highest, green lowest)

Whatever happens, Italy is becoming increasing affected by problems which are principally caused by the arms-trade and global warming all fuelled by unscrupulous groups in the world’s richest countries. Simply put, it’s not fair that this beautiful country, which shows a natural generosity and greatheartedness, should have to face this huge demographic problem alone.

Let’s hope, too, that the little shrines to the Madonna will encourage Italians to return to having more children and that the government will actively support young families in an ever more difficult economic situation.