At the location of the National Academy of San Luca in Rome, the data collected by CENSIS were presented in recent days as part of an organic research on the theme “Being parents today – Values and meanings of parenthood in Italian society.” The document, which due to its bulk and analytical breakdown of various aspects considered as exponential and significant, took the shape of a true Report, was presented by Giorgio De Rita, Secretary General of CENSIS, illustrated in the most relevant statistical data by Costanza Corsini, Researcher in the Consumption, Markets and Welfare Area of the Institute, and commented on by a panel of four experts invited to the event: Stefania Andreoli – Psychotherapist, Alli Beltrame – Professional counselor and writer, founder of Responsible Education, Mauro Magatti – Professor of Sociology, Catholic University of Milan, and Maria Pontillo – Psychotherapist of Childhood and Adolescence, Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome.
CENSIS – founded and chaired by Giuseppe De Rita – a keen connoisseur of Italian society from the post-war period to today and an attentive, unparalleled interpreter of its socioeconomic, cultural, and lifestyle shifts, has accustomed us in its annual Reports to follow the development and growth of the country: in 2025 we have reached the 59th Report which, combined with the previous ones, constitutes a precious body of knowledge and analytical exploration, a reference for those who want to read and document the evolution of Italian society, a very rich source of comparable data whose collection can undoubtedly be attributed to the “tenacious continuity” of the illustrious sociologist President, who in the ups and downs of their historical journey has outlined the chiaroscuros, daily life, strengths and weaknesses of Italians ‘everywhere and at ground level.’
I have always maintained that the CENSIS Reports should be read and studied in high schools because they constitute the social side of History and, through snapshots and integrative backgrounds, allow us to understand who we are and where we come from.
But the Institute in Piazza di Novella in Rome has long refined the overall social investigation – annually – with research and reports on significant thematic areas, descriptive and connotative of the overall framework: these are thematic areas that rise from below, driven by that social self-propulsion that characterizes the growth of a country and are captured and deepened in their emerging and explanatory evidence, as aspects of importance on which to analyze and synthesize. A few days before this event on parental roles, the 21st Communication Report was presented, focused on the sub-theme of information.
In this research on being parents today, there is one datum that, more than others, tells of the profound change in Italian society: in 1994 almost one family out of two was composed of a couple with children; today that percentage has dropped to 29.2%. In the same time span, single-person households have increased from 21.1% to 36.2%. It is the snapshot of a country that in thirty years has radically changed its relationship with family, birthrate, and even with the very idea of the future.
The CENSIS Report “Being parents today” addresses the theme of parenthood not only as a private or demographic issue but as one of the main indicators of Italian cultural transformation.
The research, discussed together with psychotherapists, sociologists, and education experts, shows in fact how becoming parents is no longer perceived as a natural stage of adult life, but rather as a complex, burdensome, emotionally all-encompassing choice often crossed by uncertainties.
The demographic crisis as a cultural change is the thematic container that illustrates the data collected by CENSIS which precisely outline the downsizing of the traditional family model.
Couples with children, which in 1994 represented 47.9% of Italian family units, in 2024 stand, as already noted, at 29.2%. At the same time, the number of people living alone increases: from 21.1% to 36.2%. Couples without children also grow significantly, rising from 17.8% to 20.2%.
Births have recorded a collapse of 32.4% compared to the 1990s. If in 1994 newborns were about 526 thousand, today they stand around 370 thousand. The average age of women at first childbirth has risen from 27.7 years to 31.9 years, while marriages have decreased by 40.6%. A comparative datum helps to size the extent of the phenomenon: it is predicted that Nigeria’s population will grow to 400 million people by 2050, becoming the fourth largest worldwide. But on the topic of birthrate, the most interesting datum concerns the maintenance of the number of 5 children per woman: easy the comparison with our data and inevitable the comparison with migratory flows in Europe and Italy to understand the ethnic melting pot that the Western world is facing.
These numbers tell of a profound transformation of Italian society. The decline in births no longer appears only as a consequence of economic precariousness or the absence of effective family policies, but as an effect of an anthropological and cultural change since the family no longer constitutes the inevitable center of personal fulfillment. In a society dominated by uncertainty, individualization, and fragility of bonds, the choice to have children is continuously postponed, weighed, and problematized.
One of the most significant aspects of the Report concerns the change in the symbolic meaning of parenthood. Until the twentieth century, the child often represented family continuity, moral duty, social belonging, an almost implicit and owed custom, especially in the marital context.
Today, instead, the birth of a child is experienced above all as an affective and identity experience: it could be said that the choice to procreate arises from a decision commensurate with economic, work, and family unit stability considerations; in essence, bringing a child into the world implies a life project.
In fact, according to the Report: 70.4% of Italians consider the child the main way to “build a family,” 37.3% link the parental choice to couple love, about 40% of mothers define motherhood as “an extraordinary act of love,” while over 60% believe that having children still represents one of the most important experiences in life.
The child is no longer a natural event inscribed in the adult path but an emotionally intense project, often idealized, on which very high expectations concentrate. It is precisely this symbolic overinvestment that makes parenthood more fragile and more exposed to anxiety.
Perhaps the most significant datum of the entire Report is that 79.2% of respondents believe that being parents today is more difficult than in the past, due to insecurity and loneliness that have replaced the generative continuity of the past and social solidarity (people used to help each other, especially in small towns; having more children made families more open relationally at the same time).
The reasons for a reversal of trend highlighted by the collected data are many: 35.7% indicate the economic burden, 18.4% denounce the lack of time due to work, 18.9% point out the increasing complexity of children’s educational demands, over 40% lament a general absence of social support, more than half of parents declare they often feel inadequate in the educational role.
It is a generalized weakness in the face of the complexity of social customs, economic and bureaucratic burdens, overexposure to recurring and widespread dangers among young people (violence, substance use, habits and acquaintances). Rightly, Prof. Magatti in the debate following the data report emphasized how parental difficulties must be specified in relation to the age of the children.
Thus, new forms of parental fragility emerge. Contemporary fathers and mothers appear constantly called to mediate between high social expectations, fear of educational mistakes, and the need to guarantee children emotional well-being, economic security, and educational success.
Unlike in the past, the educational model is no longer based on vertical authority; the contemporary parent dialogues, explains, negotiates, listens, yet precisely this transformation produces insecurity.
The loss of traditional models has not been compensated by the construction of new shared references.
It is significant that the use of educational counseling, psychological support, and pedagogical consulting is growing. Topics once marginal now enter the daily life of families because educating is no longer considered a spontaneous competence naturally passed down between generations but a complex practice requiring professional support.
A central chapter of the research concerns the relationship between parents, children, and digital technologies.
The data are particularly eloquent: 46.4% of parents allow smartphone use before age 10, 90.4% authorize it by age 12, 55.1% use parental control systems, 43% habitually geolocate their children, 32.5% of students use artificial intelligence tools to complete school tasks, 66.7% of respondents are in favor of banning smartphones in schools.
This paragraph will soon have to deal with the reactions aroused in global public opinion and received by national Governments, after the recent Los Angeles Court ruling that condemned some social platforms to compensate minor victims doped by continuous and compulsive use of technological means. Many States are preparing to set a certified limit on social media access, which will inevitably involve the engagement and collaboration of families.
These data reveal one of the most evident contradictions of contemporary parenthood since parents often introduce children early into the digital world but at the same time increase (not always) surveillance and control. It is as if the contemporary family continuously oscillates between the desire for autonomy and fear of autonomy.
Technology thus becomes simultaneously an educational tool, a form of entertainment, and a means of control. The use of geolocation, online monitoring, and digital filters shows how much the perception of risk has grown within contemporary society.
At the same time, discomfort towards the excessive digital exposure of new generations is also growing. The school, traditionally a place of cultural transmission, today finds itself at the center of new educational tensions related to permanent distraction, loss of concentration, and the use of artificial intelligence in learning processes.
Interesting is also the paragraph that highlights a persistent role asymmetry between mothers and fathers: the report indeed highlights how the transformation of parenthood intertwines with an incomplete redefinition of male and female roles.
The data show that: the employment rate of men with children reaches 91.7%, that of women with children stops at 61.5%, 77.1% of mothers declare they would have needed more economic resources, 83.8% of fathers state instead that they mainly needed more time to dedicate to the family.
Motherhood therefore continues to strongly impact women’s working conditions. Although male participation in child care has increased compared to the past, the organizational, emotional, and educational burden still predominantly weighs on women.
Contemporary parenthood thus appears formally shared but substantially still unbalanced. The paternal figure is today more present on the emotional level but not always fully involved in the daily management of family life. In a forthcoming essay, we will deepen the theme of the decline of the paternal figure – with all its implications and causes – in contemporary society: the evidence collected by the research shows that this is a topic requiring further interpretative exploration.
The CENSIS Report also captures the growing plurality of family forms due to an increase in single-parent families, separations, non-marital cohabitations, blended families, and generally less stable affective units compared to the past.
The contemporary family appears less normative and more relational; it is no longer guaranteed by the institutional permanence of the bond but by the emotional quality of the relationship.
This transformation produces greater individual freedom but also increasing fragility of affective relationships. The family unit thus tends to become an intensely emotional space but often less stable, more exposed to economic, psychological, and relational tensions.
The Report “Being parents today” therefore returns the image of an Italy undergoing a profound anthropological transformation even before a demographic one, within a society struggling to imagine the future.
Parenthood continues to be perceived as a fundamental value but becomes increasingly difficult to sustain within a society characterized by economic precariousness, relational instability, hyper-educational competition, and individualization of life paths.
The child is no longer a natural event of the life cycle but a choice of high emotional, economic, and psychological intensity. It is precisely this symbolic intensification of parenthood that produces postponement, fear, and a sense of inadequacy.
The birth crisis, in this perspective, no longer appears only as an economic or statistical problem. It reflects the collective difficulty of imagining the future as a stable, shared, and reliable space in which to transmit life.
And perhaps it is precisely here that the CENSIS Report captures the deepest knot of contemporary Italian society: the desire for family continues to exist but confronts every day a social reality increasingly uncertain, competitive, and fragmented.
Today more than ever – paraphrasing Tolstoy – all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
