My newsroom colleagues Jason Horowitz and Gaia Pianigiani have a lovely report this week about family-friendly policies in the Italian province of Alto Adige-South Tyrol, which has the highest birthrate of any region in an aging, depopulating Italy.
Their story is a portrait not just of a particular policy matrix but also the culture that policy can help foster.
Some of what Carney describes is a set of habits that’s beyond the reach of policy.
(I don’t think there’s much the government can do to persuade parents to “Have Lower Ambitions for Your Kids,” to select one of his more striking chapter titles.)
But some of the sense of overwhelmingness that comes with modern parenting seems like it could be mitigated, not just through a once-a-year benefit or tax credit, but also through small consistent signals of support: the family discount on groceries, the convenient in-home child care option, the open play space, the flexible work space.
Persons:
Jason Horowitz, Gaia Pianigiani, —, “, Tim Carney, conspires, Carney
Organizations:
Italy’s, ”, The Washington Examiner
Locations:
Italian, Alto Adige, South Tyrol, Italy