Italy issues urgent appeal for blood donors
Hospitals warn that scheduled surgery could be postponed as stocks of O positive blood run critically low nationwide.
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Category: Life in Italy
Italy set to fine pedestrians who use phones while crossing the road
The updated Highway Code, expected to be approved by mid-October, will impose fines starting at €75 for “smartphone zombies” – pedestrians using a mobile phone – distracted at street crossings.
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Espresso costs almost 25% more than five years ago
The price of an espresso at an Italian bar has risen by almost a quarter in five years, with the average cup now costing €1.29, according to a new study by the Centre for Training and Research on Consumption (CRC) in collaboration with Assoutenti.
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Births at post-war low in 2025
ROME — Italy’s severe demographic decline has hit another historic milestone, with live births falling to just 355,000 in 2025—a record low for the post-Second World War era.
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Italy passes parental consent law for sex and relationship education
The Italian Senate has given final approval to legislation requiring schools to obtain written parental consent before delivering any sex or relationship education. The vote has divided the country along sharply ideological lines.
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Il Sole 24 Ore’s 2026 generational quality of life index
Il Sole 24 Ore’s annual generational quality of life index reveals a country of deep regional inequalities, declining fertility, rising antidepressant use, and a generation of young people poorly served by both the labour market and the education system.
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Italy’s local elections put immigration front and centre
From a League candidate in a hijab to a Tunisian-Italian councillor hopeful, the mayoral contests playing out across 750 Italian municipalities this weekend are shaping up as a dress rehearsal for the 2027 general election. The local elections are also a snapshot of a country in the midst of demographic change.
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Quirinale launches 80th anniversary website
As Italy approaches the 80th anniversary of the 1946 institutional referendum, the Presidency of the Republic is inviting citizens to share what the Republic means to them.
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Italian Strikes: A survival guide for residents and visitors
With strikes called seemingly weekly, it is worth understanding how Italy’s sciopero culture works — the rules and the rights you have when your train doesn’t arrive or the school is shut.
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Nearly one in four Italian children living in poverty
A new UNICEF report on children and economic inequality places Italy in the middle tier of wealthy nations. However, it flags serious concerns over child poverty and obesity while also recognising the country’s comparatively low rates of adolescent suicide.
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