A day of work, 3 thematic interaction and debate tables, a plenary session open to the public to discuss the results, and the participation of representatives of Institutions, Universities and Research, the healthcare sector, business, civil society and associations. At the centre of the discussion is the topic of natality: for years we have been talking about the falling birth rate in our country, a phenomenon that has worsened over the years and that various initiatives recently introduced attempted to remedy, but which perhaps has not yet been addressed with a broader perspective and a longer-term vision.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Forum “Natality is the Future”: critical issues, innovative approaches and new perspectives aimed at driving growth at the centre of the debate
To stimulate a change of course in this sense, IBSA Farmaceutici and Fortune Italia organised the “Natalità è futuro” Forum, which represented the conclusion of the larger project promoted by IBSA on the subject. Launched in January 2022 with a podcast, the initiative aimed to offer ideas and new perspectives to analyse the different aspects that characterise the topic of natality in its broadest sense: the point is not to have children or not, or how many to have; rather, this issue calls into question culture, politics, economics and the narrative itself used today to talk about parenthood and family, thus dictating a serious reflection on the future of our country.
And it is precisely on these topics that the professionals who attended the Forum discussed, focusing their attention on several objectives: how to promote and foster the creation of an ecosystem sensitive to the issues of birth rate and population growth; rapidly introduce an intersectoral debate, to integrate the various public policies that can also impact birth rate; broaden our view on welfare policies to support female work and open up a parallel with virtuous European examples.
The attending institutional representatives included Bruno Tabacci, Undersecretary of State for the Presidency of the Council, Pietro Galeone, Economic Advisor, Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Antonio Gaudioso, Head of the Technical Secretariat of the Ministry of Health, and – live – also Elena Bonetti, Minister for equal opportunities and the family. It was emphasised that today natality is a critical concern for Italy’s economic growth, as well as being closely linked to – and impacting on – other major issues, such as gender equality, working-private life balance and related career timings. Criticalities and uncertainties, lack of stability and prospects are all elements that contain the desire for parenthood; therefore, outlining effective interventions to support a reversal of the trend is an urgent issue, to which it is necessary to respond with a new paradigm, an innovative vision that also takes into account the health, work and life timings of the person and the family.
Desire, planning and awareness should return to being the central elements of every parenting choice, and guide the identification of truly innovative policies, capable of building a context that is finally favourable to growth.