83

Between the late 1920s and the early 1930s, in line with what was happening in numerous European countries, the fascist regime in Italy instigated a series of measures aimed at combating the decline in fertility. Using individual data drawn from the Census of 1961 on four communities with different socio-economic characteristics, this study aims to verify whether the regime’s propaganda campaign and regulative measures to boost the birth rate had any real impact within particular segments of the population. The study shows that there was only a modest recovery in the birth rate for a short period. These increases can be partly attributed to policies adopted in 1937 which prompted a significant increase in the marriage rate. Apart from this minor effect, individual-level analysis reveals no increase in the birth rate correlated to the regime’s policies.