Italy hits record low birth rate as child poverty deepens in Naples

In 2024 Italy recorded 369,944 births, the fewest since the country's unification in 1861, and a fertility rate of 1.18 children per woman, the lowest ever. The decline marks the sixteenth consecutive year of falling births, driven by precarious employment, low wages, gender inequality in the labour market, and a shrinking pool of women of child‑bearing age.

UNICEF’s 2025 monitoring shows that 1.295 million minors in Italy live in absolute poverty, representing 13.8 % of those under 18. Poverty is especially acute in the south; in Campania the rate reaches 15.5 % and nursery coverage falls to just 13.2 % compared with the national average of 30 %. In Naples, neighbourhoods such as Scampia and Barra suffer from severe shortages of early‑childhood places, limited school accessibility for disabled students, and rising mental‑health concerns among adolescents.