Abstract The goal of this study is to describe the process of birth postponement and recovery in Italy, a country with persistent levels. The case of Italy is particularly noteworthy given that this country carries great demographic weight in Southern Europe, an area characterized by cultural and institutional specificities which have important implications for the timing of family formation and the final number of children. We use data recently published by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), applying a cohort approach to show changes in CTFRs and the timing of births for the 1950-1980 cohorts. In order to further evaluate the evolution of Italian ageing across social groups (with a focus on female education), we also use individual-level data from the 2003 Istat multipurpose survey, Famiglia e soggetti sociali (Family and Social Subjects). We find that a recovery is presently underway in the northern regions of Italy, even if not all postponed births are recovered. As expected, signs of recovery are above all evident among the youngest generations and more educated women. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) 1. Introduction Italy is a country characterized by persistent levels. A country's level is considered to be very low if it falls below 1.5 children per woman (Lesthaeghe and Willems 1999). The term lowest fertility was introduced by Kohler, Billari, and Ortega (2002) to describe those cases in which the total period rate (TFR) drops below 1.3. Lowest levels were recorded at a national level for the first time in Italy (and Spain) in 1992. Italy has had a level below 1.5 for over 25 years, and the decade of 1993-2003 saw levels consistently below 1.3. The nation reached a record rate in the mid-1990s, recording a TFR of less than 1.2. Fertility rates since then have gradually increased (for the first time since the baby boom), up to today's current level of 1.4 children per woman (Istat 2009a). The moderate yet significant increase in Italian over the last 15 years has been characterized by distinct regional patterns. In the northern regions of Italy, period has returned to the levels observed in the early 1980s, in part due to an increasing number of babies born to immigrants, whose tends to be higher than that of native Italians. Overall, however, there has also been a slight increase in native fertility, coupled with the diffusion of new forms of family arrangements among the younger cohorts. Today in the northern regions, about 30% of births occur outside of wedlock, while about 20% of births have at least one immigrant parent (Istat 2009b). In a number of southern regions, on the other hand, period has continued to decline to levels (e.g., in 2005, the TFR in Sardinia was around 1.0). In other southern regions, period levels have recently stabilized, although at levels much lower than those observed in early 1980s. When cohort fertility, rather than period measures, is considered, Italian levels are still found to be exceptionally low. Although the decline in concerns all generations of women (at least beginning with those born in the 1920s), the proportion of women without any children in Italy has long remained relatively stable at less than 15%. Childlessness first began to increase noticeably among the cohorts of women born in the 1960s (De Rose, Racioppi, and Zanatta 2008). Beginning with the generations born at the end of the 1950s, ever more women in the central and northern regions started to forego early maternity, and the process of postponing first births began. With the birth cohorts of the 1960s, this behaviour became increasingly common, and spread throughout the country. The recent increase in among older age groups could help to explain the halt in the decline of period fertility. …