Italy is becoming a country of old men and women. Or is it? True, Il Bel Paese does have the lowest natality rates of the continent, with only 7.8 children born every 1000 people, half of the rates in Ireland, the most prolific of the EU states. Yet, demographics are quite complex when it comes to the age and health of Italian people, because if it’s undoubted we don’t have enough children to support national demographic growth, there isn’t a shred of a doubt we’re aging pretty darn well compared to the rest of the world.  

Possibly in an attempt to make the country feel better about the prospect of having soon to close down uber-trendy nightspots to replace them with pensioner-friendly arts and crafts circles, the media have been stressing this aspect a lot in recent times. Not longer than a week ago, news broke that Italy is, once more, the country with the highest life expectancy in the EU (80.6 years for men and 85 for women) and the second highest in the world, in a tie with Japan.