Economic well-being in old age in Italy: does having children make a difference?

A cross sectional data source, the Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (years 2000 and 2002), is used to assess the association between the economic conditions in old age and a few covariates, among which past fertility, marital status and living arrangements. For the elderly, past fertility behavior does not seem to impact very much on current economic performance, although the worth of assets is inversely related to the number of children. However, ceteris paribus, having (adult) co-residing children is associated with worse economic conditions, both objectively (equivalent income, poverty, assets) and subjectively. In short, having children does not seem to protect from poverty in old age, and may make things worse. Prospects are better when there are other grown-up members in the household, especially males, when education is high, and when the household resides in the North of Italy.