Absolute poverty in Italy, the risk is the highest in Europe. “Effective counter measures are needed immediately”

ROMA – “Absolute poverty is increasing and is increasingly structural: this is certified by the Bes Report 2023, just published, with which Istat measures economic and sustainable well-being. Two data seem particularly alarming to me, among the many contained in the Report.

First data. The risk of poverty in Italy is significantly higher than the European average: 20.1% in Italy, compared to 16.5% in the EU27.

Second data. It concerns the individual incidence of absolute poverty: from 2019 to 2023 (historical series reconstructed according to the new estimation methodology) this shows growth – we read in the Report – In 2019 it had fallen to 7.6%, coinciding with the introduction of Citizenship Income, a monetary transfer not indexed to inflation like other social welfare benefits; in 2020, the incidence starts to grow again, reaching 9.1% and remaining stable in 2021. In 2022, the incidence starts to increase again to 9.7%, largely due to the strong acceleration of inflation, which it has particularly affected less well-off families and remains substantially stable with 9.8% in 2023′.

The chronic increase in poverty. These data confirm the chronic increase in absolute poverty – says Antonio Russo, spokesperson forAlliance Against Poverty – already highlighted in recent weeks, again by Istat, in the “Preliminary estimates of absolute poverty and consumption expenditure – 2023”: in Italy, families in absolute poverty were, in 2023, around 2 million 234 thousand: 8.5% of the total. A “slight increase” compared to the 8.3% in 2022, but a chronic increase compared to 10 years ago: in 2014, families in absolute poverty were in fact 6.2%. Absolute poverty had never reached such a high incidence in our country.”

Consumer prices. Reference is then made to another data, released in recent days by Istat, with the publication of Consumer prices for March 2024: “After a brief positive pause, due to the reduction in the cost of energy, inflation started to rise again to 1.2%. It is estimated that this could have an impact of +393 euros per year on each family, in a context of already serious suffering, due to two years of high prices. This can only have an impact on the purchasing power of families, especially those on low incomes, forcing them to make sacrifices and sacrifices. Waivers that also concern the healthcare sector: as documented, again, in the Bes report just released by Istat, in 2023 4.2% of Italians had to give up medical visits or diagnostic tests due to economic problems: 1.3% more than in 2022”.

Selective universalism applies: the poor divided by “categories”. The concern is therefore high, also looking to the future: “In the coming months, if we do not intervene with determination and effective measures, there will only be a worsening of the situation, with a further increase in absolute poverty – adds Antonio Russo – From one On the other hand, in fact, the new measures to combat poverty have dismantled the principle of selective universalism and, by dividing the poor into categories, have effectively excluded millions of people from support. Currently, the inclusion allowance has reached 589 thousand families: less than half compared to those who, until July 2023, found a shelter against absolute poverty in the citizen’s income. Now, with inflation showing no signs of decreasing, thanks to the serious international crisis, and with the lack of universal support, however selective, it is inevitable that Italy will record even more dramatic figures”.

The priority is to lift thousands of families out of total poverty. “We asked Minister Calderone for a meeting – continues Russo – to be able to examine together our analyzes and our proposals to restore a universalistic principle and broaden the range of beneficiaries. The priority is to remove hundreds of thousands of Italian families from absolute poverty. we have received an answer: now Istat is giving us this new, worrying photograph, which highlights how much the risk of poverty is greater in Italy than in the rest of Europe. We trust that the fight against poverty will become a priority on the government’s agenda that this agenda can find space for a constructive and operational meeting with the associations that deal with this every day, making use of scholars, experts and specialized professionals”.