A few years ago, I directed the dissertation of a student. She was working in the archives of the island of Elba, reconstructing the genealogies of the families in order to analyze their fertility and detect the onset of birth control and the pace of fertility decline in the particular environment of the island. The task was daunting: she had to transcribe several thousand handwritten records, translate the material into machine-readable format, input the data, write the appropriate program, and analyze the results. Once we discussed the plan and verified the completeness of the sources, she departed to start the data collection that, undoubtedly, would have taken a long time. After a surprisingly short period, she was back to me with a stack of computer printouts. “How could you transcribe the records in such a short period?” I asked, surprised. “My Dad, who has taken early retirement from” – and she mentioned a giant steel mill, then under public ownership – “has helped me; he has a passion for history and he has now enrolled in the University of Siena”.

“But how could you so quickly do the data input, write the programs, and get the results so quickly?”

“My Mom, who was in the computer center of the same company and has also taken early retirement, helped me out”. The plant was producing unneeded steel at a loss; redundant labor was encouraged to take early retirement with generous bonuses and inviting perks.