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- The world population recently reached eight billion people; however, this hasn’t helped Italy in any way.
- The country has been experiencing the lowest marriage and birth rate recently, with only a small percentage of people saying they would consider having children.
- The League Party in Italy submitted a proposal to pay for couples’ weddings if they got married in a church.
Young people in Italy are becoming less and less interested in marriage, which has caused the number of married couples to decrease in the country over the years.
In an attempt to aid this crisis, The League Party in Italy submitted a proposal to pay for couples’ weddings if they got married in a church.
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According to Remix, Italy's population is ageing rapidly, while its birth rate is extremely low. Since 2020, most young people have shared that they have no interest in having children, resulting in a low marriage rate.
The proposal is aimed at encouraging young people to get married. It is also meant to encourage reproduction, as only 13 per cent of Italian men, and 25 per cent of Italian women are open to having children.
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Couples who are interested will receive €20 000 (R354 217), and this amount can be used to pay for the ceremony, wedding rings and photographers, to name a few things.
However, the catch is that the couple must be of Italian citizenship for at least ten years, and the spouses must make their vows in church. In addition, they can only receive the bonus if they earn less than €23 000 (R410 525) a year.
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Although this may be a great idea, not everyone is accepting of this proposal, as some feel it discriminates against people who don’t share the same faith.
Author Luciano Moia argued in an opinion piece on Avennire that according to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, marriage is a sacrament for the church, and a sacrament cannot be bought.
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Because marriage is more than a wedding, Luciano adds that if the government wants to interest young people in getting married, they have to offer more than paying for the wedding.
“To support the choices of young people who decide to get married, targeted and constant family policies are needed, with an investment to support family life as a whole.”
In addition, the controversy about the requirement for the marriages to be in a church was immediate and the League announced an extension of the measure.
The deputy group leader of the League, Domenico Furgiuele, the first signatory of the bill in question, reportedly explained: “The bill that I signed for the first time, aimed at encouraging the wedding sector, which for reasons of costs provided for a bonus intended only for religious weddings, will naturally be extended to all weddings during the parliamentary debate regardless of whether they are celebrated in church or not”.
