1. BY MICHAEL LAKING

2.  Many areas of Europe have a low fertility rate because of the following reasons:  education - people are more aware of the availability of contraception and consequences an unplanned pregnancy can have on their career  women in careers - Women may choose to follow their career choice rather than start a family while young  later marriages  state benefits - couples no longer need children to help care for them when older  Italy is a country which has a fertility rate of only 1.33 so therefore it tries to encourage people to have more kids

3.  The Italian government offers a one-time payment of 1,000 euros (£685) to couples who have a second child.  Italy also offers women 3 years paid maternity leave as well as an additional 5 years unpaid leave. However Italy's economy is bad and therefore women may need to go back to work to keep their jobs or to be financially stable.

4.  Despite pronatalist efforts, fertility remains low in France, Germany, Italy and Japan, but in the US, which has no pronatalist political agenda, fertility is highest at around 2.1 children per woman.

5.  Italian girls now have higher average levels of educational attainment than boys do, which suggests that they probably expect to be actively employed most of their lives  Part-time work is not as common or available to women as it is in the US and Germany, so Italian women often have to make a decision between work and a family.