There poverty it goes forward year after year, as the last highlights relationship from the Caritas Diocesana.
From the report entitled “Poverty in Italy” it is clear that now the work is no longer enough, given the advance of an army of poor workers. And the North It has the most worrying data.
Poverty in Italy continuously growing
Italy highlights Caritas, it turns out from year to year on the poorest and socially fragile year. In last 10 yearsthe assisted people from the Caritas network have increased +62.6% in Italy. But it is al North that the figure makes more noise: +77% Compared to 2014. In the South the increase stood at +64.7%.
That detected is a trend that overturns consolidated narratives: the crisis now affects transversely, without saving the territories traditionally considered more solid from an economic point of view. The Caritas listening centers in 2014 welcomed 277.775 families.
According to data, the 9.7% of the Italian population lives in conditions of poverty absolutefor a total of beyond 5.6 million of individuals and 2.2 million families. Italy is not alone: in the European Union 21% of the population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. However, what emerges in a distinctive way is the worsening of social conditions in the northern areas, where historically a lower impact of poverty has always been had. The combined effect of the pandemic crisis, dear life, wage stagnation and geopolitical tensions has eroded the traditional economic shock absorbers of many families.
The incidence of the “new plays” falls, but the cases of intermittent poverty increase and above all long -lasting. Over four out of four is found in a state of stable discomfort. The average age rises (47.8 years) and the altitude of Over 65 in difficulty that went from 7.7% in 2015 to 14.3% in 2024 is also growing.
Poor workers
One of the most disturbing elements concerns work, which is no longer a guarantee against poverty. 21% of Italian workers do not earn enough to live in a dignified way, while 23.5% of Caritas assisted people fall into the category of Working Poor. The erosion of purchasing power is dramatic: between 2008 and 2024 real wages dropped by -8.7%, the worst figure of the G20. The resumption of inflation between 2022 and 2023 only worsened the picture, without real benefits related to the slowdown of 2024 (+1%).
THE’instruction A social protection factor is confirmed: among families with low qualification, the incidence of absolute poverty is 13%, but descends to 4.6% among those who have at least one graduate at home.
Structural housing emergency
The house is no longer an emergency, but a structural problem. According to Caritas, 33% of the assisted people have at least one form of reshapeand 22.7% live in conditions of serious exclusion: homeless, under eviction, or welcomed in dormitories. Particularly vulnerable are the men suns, young, foreigners, unemployed and not followed by social services.
Families with children, in particular the numerous ones, are among the most exposed. The cost of the house affects the lowest income disproportionately: the rate of residential overload among the poor is almost double the national average. Here too, the North and the islands record particularly high discomfort.
Welfare is not enough
The Italian welfare system (which puts tools such as the inclusion allowance or support for training and work on the table) is insufficient. Only 11.5% of the clients perceive ADI and just 1.3% the SCL. The universal single check covers about 39% of families with children, without significant differences between Italians and foreigners.
You are less and less treated
The report then recalls that, as Istat has already detected, last year 9.9% of the population, about 6 million people, had to give up health services deemed necessary such as (specialist visits, diagnostic tests such as x -rays, ultrasounds or magnetic resonances. Caritas data show how 15.7% of clients alive a condition of health vulnerability, often linked to serious pathologies and to the lack of an adequate response from the NHS.
