It is astonishing. Where Donati sees selfishness, however, others see women who have been placed under monumental stress. They now work for a living in record numbers, but tremendous obstacles remain for balancing work and family life. Far more than in places like Sweden, France, or even the United States, the Italian man still seeks a wife who will make his dinner every night and who takes complete charge of the family. Women have responded by realizing that with only 24 hours in each day something has to give.
Children seem to have become that something.
Whatever the reasons, the changes, and what they will mean, are difficult to ignore. Something simply has to change. Walter Vitali agrees. It's sort of hard to disagree with that. The birth rate is dropping, but there are still plenty of people on the earth.