Why Young Italians Aren't Having Kids

To start with, while overall in Italy the unemployment figures have declined in recent years, youth unemployment is still high, with many young Italians forced to live at home into their late 20's and beyond.

A lack of money and a house is off-putting for many would-be parents.

Working women face the added fear of losing their job if they have a child. Among Italian women who are employed when they become pregnant, one in four loses her job within a year of giving birth, according to data from national statistics agency Istat - a risk which increases with each subsequent child.

42.8 percent of those who continued to work after having a child admitted to struggling to reconcile their work and family life.

In 2014, the IMF said Italy had done the least of any European country to encourage women to work, with only around half of women in the workforce and even fewer in the south.

One in two Italian families regularly use grandparents as a babysitting resource, with 20 percent providing daily or almost daily care.