Equity between Generations: A New Comparison on Family Quality, 1991

The Second Report includes articles on issues proposed in the preceding volume that continue to touch on timely matters. Consistent with the First Report, this Report utilizes an elevated and scientific analysis of the topics while using a language appropriate for those who do not necessarily specialize in the areas discussed.
This volume contends that today’s society needs to find a solution to the crucial problem of generational equity. What should be passed down from generation to generation? Why and how? In particular, it is important to define what type of family we need not only for the new generation but for those generations not yet born. Italian society knows an increasing low birthrate, progressive aging of the population, growing social disadvantages, a fiscal and legislative system that harshly penalizes procreative and "profamily choices". Empirical research confirms that our society does not see the family as a tool to transfer future values, vocations, and a sense of life.
It is imperative for society to think seriously about its future in terms of generational changes. It is important to understand how and what family roles fit into this process. Above all, we must understand if and how today’s generations think of themselves within this generational process.
This Report poses the central questions that so many of today’s readers and the rest of the scientific world want answered: What does our future hold; What does the future of our children hold; and What does the future of our society hold? This volume presents and discusses possible alternatives. It addresses scholars, educators, social and pastoral workers, policy makers, and volunteers who feel the need "to read and to react" in new ways to the relationships between generations.
     

Generational equity: a new comparison on family quality
Pierpaolo Donati

Contributions of generations on recent changes in family forms
Paolo De Sandre

The problem of the low birthrate in Italy: dimensions, consequences and proposals for intervention
Gian Carlo Blangiardo

The condition of childhood
Giovanni Battista Sgritta

Single parent families in Italy
Giovanna Rossi Sciumè, Eugenia Scabini

The social impact of reproductive technologies
Sandro Spinsanti

The family and social policy in Italy
Carla Collicelli

The family and the ecclesiastical community in Italy
Gianfranco Fregni

Social promotion of the family: legislative proposals and examples of innovative services
Ivo Colozzi, Monica Matteini