All over Europe, the average number of children desired by a couple is around two, but the realized fertility is usually lower and, in the case of Southern countries, much lower – which led demographers to coin the term “lowest low fertility rate” when it plunges under 1.3 children per woman.

In the seventh episode of the THINK DIVERSE podcast series, Letizia Mencarini, Full Professor of Demography at Bocconi Department of Social and Political Sciences, describes Europe as a continent all but homogeneous in terms of fertility, and less so after the pandemic. COVID seems to have made things worse only in countries characterized by lack of family-friendly policies and lack of trust in their future implementation.

“Policies that create a family-friendly society and boost the fertility rate include income support to lower the real cost of children; incentivizing flexibility to reconcile family and work roles; and childcare services,” says Professor Mencarini to podcast host Catherine De Vries.

“Data show how urgent and important it is to put resources and invest on next generations,” she concludes.

THINK DIVERSE is a fresh and deep look at the issues surrounding diversity and inclusion. In every episode, host Catherine De Vries, Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Bocconi University, picks the brain of Bocconi colleagues who do actionable research about diversity and inclusion topics in order to develop knowledge that matters.