Few traditions are more time-honored in Italy than the centrality of the family.
Today, what used to be one of the world's most child-oriented cultures has become its most childless. Daniela Pellegrini was 38 years old when her only child, Caterina, was born in 1991. Her own mother and father died when Daniela was still young. She found that even though women enjoy legal equality with men, they earn significantly less for the same work. She began living with Fabio, a teacher of Italian literature, in 1980.