June 15 could also be the right date for the restart of the entire wedding sector, even if the operators of the sector are pressing on the government to bring the green light forward to June 1. The hope is that the control room, which will probably meet on Monday 17 May to decide on the changes to be made to the decree currently in force, will also be able to evaluate this aspect.
Goodbye weddings, Italy last in the European Union
And while the sector asks to be able to reopen in a short time, Eurostat – the statistical office of the European Union – has highlighted that Italians marry less than other Europeans, but are on the average for the Union. regarding divorces. The country of the European Union where there is the largest number of marriages compared to the population is the island of Cyprus. Here the percentage is equal to 8.9. Followed by Lithuania (7.0), Latvia and Hungary (both at 6.7) and then Romania (6.6). And then again Slovakia (5.4), Denmark and Malta (5.3). observes a rate of 3.2 for both countries. It is a bit better in France, Spain and Luxembourg (all three at 3.5).
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Divorces are growing
Another significant figure is the increase in the number of divorces, which more than doubled, which went from 0.8 per 1000 people in 1964 to 1.8 again in 2019. Among the 27 EU countries, the lowest number was recorded in Malta and Ireland (0.7 divorces per 1000 people). Then Slovenia (1.2), Italy (1.4) and Croatia (1.5). Conversely, the highest divorce rates were found in Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg (equal to 3.1 divorces per 1,000 people), Cyprus (2.6) and Sweden (2.5).
The weight of the pandemic
Eurostat did not indicate the possible causes of these changes. However, if we examine the most recent Istat data, disclosed in February of this year, it is clear that in the first half of 2020 there was a collapse in marriages, civil unions, separations and divorces and that to heavily affect romantic relationships was the coronavirus pandemic. In the Istat report, the real collapse took place in the second quarter due to the restrictions imposed on the celebration of religious marriages. But the decline in first marriages would also be partly related to the progressive spread of free unions (cohabitation more uxorio).