<p>Mammoni</p><p>Some people are choosing not to have any children at all:</p><p>The headline reads "Blissful Bachelorhood and the Shrinking Village." That's </p><p> how the current situation in Italy is portrayed in newspapers in the United States. </p><p>With a total fertility rate of 1.2, Italy has one of the lowest TFRs in Western Europe. </p><p>In much of Italy, rural villages have decreased in size as villagers migrated to cities </p><p> and many of the young adults that remained chose not to marry, or if they did marry, </p><p> had fewer children. The lack of interest in marriage and raising families has </p><p> confounded government officials, parents, and even some children. While fertility </p><p> rates are low throughout Western Europe, Italy and Spain, predominantly Roman </p><p>Catholic countries, have the lowest TFRs. Within Italian society, there is even a term </p><p> for Italian men who continue to live at home, don’t marry and are cared for by their </p><p> parents when they are adults: mammoni. Sociologists find this phenomenon puzzling:</p><p> the younger generation has a desire for financial independence and sexual freedom, </p><p> yet relies on their parents for housing, food, and high levels of parental care. "Maybe </p><p> it's my fault" said 70 year-old Ada Marracino as she prepared lunch for her husband </p><p> and her son and daughter, who are both in their mid-40's, unmarried and living at </p><p> home. Her husband smiled sadly as he said, "It used to be the kids who would look </p><p> after the old people. Around here, it is the reverse." Their daughter, Vincenza, used </p><p> to live in Rome but moved back to her family village to live with her parents. She </p><p> told a reporter that she felt no social or family pressure to get married. "I don't feel I </p><p> have to get married, just to be married. Though lately, I have been thinking more about having children someday." Vincenza was 43 years old when she made this </p><p> statement. </p><p>Aside from personal choice, there are governmental programs, such as China’s </p><p> policy of limiting children to one per family, that can have drastic and significant </p><p> effects on population. From the Communist revolution in 1949 to the present, the </p><p> population in China has more than doubled and today is approximately 1.3 billion. In</p><p>1979, China articulated a goal to achieve zero population growth by the year 2000. A</p><p> government program of social pressure and increased supply of contraceptives was </p><p> initiated. In addition, the government implemented a system of economic incentives </p><p> for one-child families and disincentives for larger families. The policy met with a </p><p> great deal of success, although at a TFR of 1.8, China is not even close to the TFR of </p><p>Italy. The CBR dropped from 40 to 20 between 1960 and 2000, although most of </p><p> those gains occurred before the much publicized "one child" campaign. Some critics </p><p> have suggested that economic development was more a factor than government </p><p> policy in reducing China's fertility rate . In many countries, over the past hundred </p><p> years or so, decreases in fertility have occurred shortly after economic development. </p><p>Sources: A. Stanley. Blissful Bachelorhood and the Shrinking Village. NY Times November 16, 1999 </p><p> p4.</p><p>Weeks, J.R. Population. 1999. Wadsworth. </p><p>Author: A.J. Friedland</p>