Fewer children and greater poverty. In 2023, Italy set a new negative record for birth rate, with less than 380 thousand new births, as poverty continues to impact minors, particularly the youngest. 13.4% of girls and boys between the ages of 0 and 3 are in absolute poverty, while over 200 thousand children between the ages of 0 and 5 (8.5% of the total) live in food poverty, which means that their families cannot provide at least one protein meal every two days. More than half live in the South (including the islands), where the ratio jumps to 12.9%. Almost one in ten children (9.7%) in the same age group faced energy poverty, which meant they lived in a residence that was not adequately heated throughout the winter. These findings come from the 15th edition of the "Atlas of Childhood at Risk in Italy," titled "One, Two, Three... Star. The First Years of Life," published today by Save the Children. There are almost 748,000 families in absolute poverty with minors, representing 12.4% of households, who have also faced significant price increases in essential goods and services for early childhood. From 2019 to 2023, spending on baby food (milk and porridge) rose by 19.1%, surpassing inflation (16.2%), while nursery school costs increased by 11.3%, particularly in private institutions (compared to a 1.5% rise for publicly funded spaces).
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