【新闻麻辣烫】
"意大利小镇上演'消失的孩子们'：威尼斯郊外的弗莱戈纳镇，今年全镇只迎来4个新生儿，小学一年级差点因凑不齐10个学生被关停！镇长急得满街拉人，甚至跑到披萨厂求家长'借孩子上学'——'我们包校车接送还管课后托管，求求别让学校关门啊！'更扎心的是，全镇2700居民多半是喝着起泡酒的老爷爷和赶集买菊苣的老奶奶，镇长哀叹：'再这样下去，村子就要消失了！'"
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**Italy's baby bust threatens village survival**
**意大利生育危机威胁村庄存续**
Winding down the narrow main street of his north Italian town, Giacomo de Luca points to the businesses that have closed: two supermarkets, a barbershop, restaurants – all with shutters drawn and faded signs above their doors.
走在意大利北部小镇的狭窄主街上，贾科莫·德卢卡指着那些关闭的店铺：两家超市、一家理发店、多家餐馆——全都拉下了百叶窗，门上的招牌褪色斑驳。
The pretty town of Fregona at the foot of the mountains is emptying out like many here, as Italians have fewer children and increasingly migrate to bigger places or move abroad.
山脚下的美丽小镇弗莱戈纳正像意大利许多地方一样逐渐空心化——意大利人生育越来越少，更多人迁往大城市或移居海外。
Now the local primary school is at risk and the mayor is worried."The new Year One can't go ahead because there are only four children. They want to shut it down," De Luca explains.
如今当地小学濒临关闭，镇长忧心忡忡。"一年级没法开班，因为只有4个孩子。他们想关停学校，"德卢卡解释道。
The minimum class size to get funding is 10 children."The drop in births and in the population has been very, very sharp."
获得拨款的最低班级规模是10名学生。"出生率和人口下降速度非常、非常剧烈。"
The mayor calculates that the population of Fregona, an hour's drive north of Venice, has shrunk by almost a fifth in the past decade.
镇长统计，位于威尼斯以北一小时车程的弗莱戈纳，过去十年人口减少了近五分之一。
By June this year there were just four new births and most of the 2,700 or so remaining residents are elderly, from the men drinking their morning prosecco to the women filling their bags with chicory and tomatoes at the weekly market.
截至今年6月仅有4名新生儿，全镇约2700名居民中多数是老年人——从早晨喝着普罗塞克起泡酒的老汉，到每周集市上采购菊苣番茄的老妇。
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**Nationwide demographic crisis**
**全国性人口危机**
Italy's demographic crisis extends far beyond Fregona and it is deepening.
意大利的人口危机远不止弗莱戈纳，且日益严峻。
Over the past decade, the population nationwide has contracted by almost 1.9 million and the number of births has fallen for 16 consecutive years.
过去十年全国人口减少近190万，出生人数连续16年下降。
On average, Italian women are now having just 1.18 babies, the lowest level ever recorded.
意大利女性平均生育仅1.18个孩子，创历史新低。
That's under the EU average fertility rate of 1.38 and far below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population.
这低于欧盟1.38的平均生育率，远未达到维持人口所需的2.1。
Despite its efforts to encourage childbirth, and much talk of family-friendly politics, Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has been unable to stop the slide.
尽管梅洛尼的右翼政府努力鼓励生育并大谈家庭友好政策，仍未能阻止下滑趋势。
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**Parental struggles**
**育儿困境**
"You have to think a lot before having a baby," Valentina Dottor admits when we meet on Fregona's main square, her 10-month-old daughter Diletta cooing in a pushchair.
"生孩子前必须深思熟虑，"瓦伦蒂娜·多托尔在弗莱戈纳主广场坦言，她10个月大的女儿迪莱塔在婴儿车里咿呀作语。
Valentina gets an allowance of around €200 (£175) a month for Diletta's first year, but just missed out on the government's new Baby Bonus of €1,000 for children born in 2025.
瓦伦蒂娜在女儿出生第一年每月获得约200欧元（175英镑）补贴，但刚好错过政府2025年新生儿1000欧元的"婴儿奖金"新政。
There are new tax breaks, too, and longer parental leave. But Valentina now needs to return to work and says accessing affordable childcare is still very tough.
虽有新税收减免和延长产假，但即将复工的瓦伦蒂娜表示获得平价托儿服务仍非常困难。
"There are not many babies, but not many kindergarten [places] either," she says.
"孩子不多，但幼儿园名额也不多，"她说。
"I am lucky to have my grandmother take care of my daughter. If not, I don't know where I would leave her."
"幸运的是祖母能照顾女儿。否则真不知该托付给谁。"
That's why her friends are wary of motherhood."It's difficult - because of work, schools, the money," Valentina says.
这正是朋友们对生育望而却步的原因。"太难了——因为工作、学校、经济压力，"瓦伦蒂娜说。
"There is some help, but it's not enough to have babies. It won't solve the problem."
"有些帮扶政策，但不足以鼓励生育。这解决不了问题。"
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**Corporate solutions**
**企业自救方案**
Some companies in the Veneto region have taken matters into their own hands.
威尼托大区部分企业开始主动出击。
Irinox, a blast chiller manufacturer, spotted the parenting problem long ago and decided to act rather than lose valuable workers.
急冻设备制造商Irinox早注意到员工育儿难题，为避免人才流失采取行动。
The firm joined forces with seven others to create a creche a short walk from the factory floor – not free, but heavily discounted and convenient.
该公司联合七家企业创办步行可达的托儿所——非免费但大幅优惠且便利。
"Knowing I had the chance to put my son two minutes from here was very important, because I can reach him any time, very fast," finance executive Melania Sandrin explains.
"知道能把儿子放在两分钟路程的地方很重要，我能随时快速见到他，"财务主管梅拉妮娅·桑德林解释道。
Like Valentina, she and her friends delayed having children into their late 30s, keen to establish their careers, and Melania isn't sure she'd have a second baby, even now.
和瓦伦蒂娜一样，她和朋友为事业推迟到近40岁生育，至今不确定是否要二胎。
"It's not easy," she says. Later childbirth, a growing trend here, is another factor in lowering fertility.
"这不容易，"她说。生育年龄推迟这一普遍趋势进一步降低生育率。
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**Systemic challenges**
**系统性挑战**
CEO Katia da Ros thinks Italy needs"massive changes" to address its population problem.
CEO卡蒂亚·达罗斯认为意大利需要"大刀阔斧改革"解决人口问题。
"It's not the €1,000 payments that make a difference, but having services like free kindergartens. If we want to change the situation we need strong action," she says.
"关键不是1000欧元补贴，而是免费幼儿园等服务。要改变现状需强力措施，"她说。
The other solution is increased immigration, which is far more contentious for Meloni's government.
另一解决方案是增加移民——这对梅洛尼政府更具争议性。
More than 40% of the workers at Irinox are already from abroad. A map on the factory wall dotted with pins shows they come from Mongolia to Burkina Faso.
Irinox超40%员工已来自海外，工厂墙上的地图显示他们从蒙古到布基纳法索遍布各地。
Barring an unlikely sudden surge in childbirth, Katia da Ros argues Italy will need more foreign workers to drive its economy."The future will be like that."
达罗斯认为除非生育率奇迹飙升，意大利未来仍需外国劳动力推动经济。"未来必将如此。"
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**School closures**
**学校关停**
Even immigration couldn't save a school in nearby Treviso. Last month, Pascoli Primary shut its doors for good because there weren't enough pupils to sustain it.
连移民潮都未能挽救特雷维索附近的学校。上月帕斯科利小学因生源不足永久关闭。
Just 27 children gathered on the school steps for a final ceremony marked by an Alpine bugler with a feather in his hat, who sounded the Last Post as the Italian flag was lowered.
仅27名孩子聚集在台阶参加告别仪式，头戴羽饰的阿尔卑斯号手在降旗时吹响《最后岗位》。
"It's a sad day," Eleanora Franceschi said, collecting her 8-year-old daughter for one last time.
"悲伤的一天，"埃莉诺拉·弗兰切斯基最后一次接走8岁女儿时说。
From September, she'll have to travel much further to a different school.
9月起她将不得不送孩子去更远的学校。
Eleanora doesn't believe the falling birthrate alone is to blame: she says Pascoli school didn't teach in the afternoons, making life harder for working parents who then moved their children elsewhere.
埃莉诺拉认为不能全怪低生育率：帕斯科利小学下午不上课，迫使职场父母将孩子转学。
The headteacher has another explanation."This area has been transformed because many people from abroad came here," Luana Scarfi told the BBC.
校长给出另种解释。"因大量移民涌入，这个地区已经改变，"卢安娜·斯卡菲告诉BBC。
"Some [families] then decided to go to other schools where the immigration index was less high."
"部分家庭转而选择移民比例较低的学校。"
A UN prediction suggests Italy's population will drop by about five million in the next 25 years, from 59 million. It's ageing, too, increasing the strain on the economy.
联合国预测意大利人口未来25年将从5900万减少约500万。老龄化也加剧经济压力。
Government measures to tackle that have so far only scratched the surface.
政府应对措施至今仅触及表面。
But Eleanora argues parents like her need a lot more help with services, not just cash handouts, for a start.
但埃莉诺拉认为像她这样的父母首先需要更多服务支持，而非现金补贴。
