Not all that important, just though it was a nice phrase. The groups of the elderly, out for their evening stroll (passagiata) are known in Italy as the “cane brigades“.

The whole article is talking about the very low birthrates in parts of Europe. That part is true, unfortunately they get the cause very wrong.

The causes behind declining fertility rates are manifold, but the most obvious cause was the introduction of mass contraception in the mid-20th century.

It might be an obvious cause but it’s not actually an important one. Most academic studies say that the availability of contraception has, at most, a 10% share in the changes in fertility. Something which should be obvious with the use of a little bit of logic. For there are plenty of non-mechanical ways (perhaps not 100% effective but still pretty good) of preventing conception for a start. But more than that, before people use contraception there has to be the desire to use it.

That is, desired fertility (which those academic studies say is responsible for 90% of the changes in actual fertility) must change before contraception can have an effect. Now there are indeed arguments about what changes desired fertility but from my economist type viewpoint it is wealth. Wealth as properly measured, not simply cash in ones hand of course. Longer lifespans, more education, lower rates of child mortality, urbanisation, they all have an effect.

But it’s still very much true that the availability or not of contraception is very much a bit player in this. It the change in the desired number of children which makes the difference.