Economic Crisis and Demographic Dynamics

Contemporary history is studded with banking and financial crises. There is however a widespread belief that this most recent crisis has given rise to a broader-based depression than that of 1929. The drastic fall in GDP in 2008-09 concerned both more economically developed ones and countries with emerging economies or developing countries. In Italy, the decrease in GDP in 2008 and 2009 was greater than the average values of western economies and the fleeting recovery of 2010-2011 was less substantial than in many other advanced countries, followed by a further two years of decrease in the volume of production. In a period as difficult as this one, have there been any important changes in the demographic behaviour of the Italian population? Have people continued to marry, have children, separate and migrate as in the years before the crisis? Has life expectancy continued to increase or has anything changed in Italian people’s health and lifestyles?