Italian Women Are Burying the Myth of the Mamma
The country has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. That’s having effects on everything from the economy to popular culture.
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Italy is known for its devoted mammas. Emperor Nero’s maneuvered him into the line of succession. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi brought his on the campaign trail. Footballer Christian Vieri called his five times a day.
Yet refusing to buy into the cult of maternity are Italian women themselves, who are having fewer children — with some eschewing motherhood altogether.