A Cuban resident in Italy who identifies as @atelier_babacar on TikTok posted a video this Wednesday in which she openly confesses what she admires most about Italian women: their mindset regarding motherhood.
In the almost two-minute video, the creator points out that most Italian women do not have children at a young age or with just any partner; instead, they plan carefully.
"Not all of them, but most of them, before having a child, almost none have a child at a young age and almost none have a child with just anyone. They think about it a lot," he states in the video.
She contrasts that attitude with what she describes as a “bad habit” of Latinas: “We Latinas have this bad habit of getting pregnant early, and we almost always have to be both mother and father.”
The author speaks from personal experience: she had her son Babacar at the age of 21, and despite that, she managed to move forward. "I had Babacar when I was just 21, and I did everything: I graduated, got my license, went to work, started my business, everything. Children give you the motivation to conquer the world," she says.
However, she clarifies that her reflection is not about viewing children as a burden, but rather emphasizing the difference between raising them as a couple and doing so alone. "It's wonderful when you have a child with your partner; when it's two of us, we think together, we battle together. It's not the same to carry the entire load alone as it is to share it," she explains.
She claims to have experienced both situations, which gives her a basis for comparison, and she closes the video with an open question to her followers: “As Latinas, we have this thing where we always have to have children at a young age, always having to carry that burden alone... it’s a mindset that for us, having a child is very easy. I don’t know, let me know what you think.”
The data supports the creator's perception. In Italy, the average age for having the first child is 31.9 years (ISTAT, 2024), one of the highest in Europe, while in Cuba it is 22.8 years (ONEI, 2022). The adolescent birth rate in Cuba reaches 35.7 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, compared to just 3.2 in Italy, a difference of approximately 11 times. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 27% of all births in Cuba are to adolescent mothers.
This type of reflection is part of a growing trend among Cuban emigrants in Italy who use TikTok to compare their culture of origin with that of their host country, sparking debate due to their direct tone and willingness to highlight cultural contrasts from their lived experiences.
Other Cuban women in Italy have shared similar stories about the challenges of emigration and cultural shock, such as a Cuban who lived for nine years without documents before regularizing her situation and opening a business, or those who have reflected on maintaining their identity in the face of cultural stereotypes in the European country.
Italy, for its part, is facing a sustained decline in birthrates, with 4,600 fewer births in the first seven months of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, according to ISTAT.
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