The crisis shows no sign of ending and the number of Italian families who do not arrive at the end of the month increases, rising to the staggering 4,7 million, for a percentage of 19% against 11,3% in March 2012. To launch the alarm is the Censis-Confcommercio observatory, which adds that the standard of living has worsened for 17 million families, 69% of the total. Only 2% believe that spending and consumption capacity have improved.
One in four households have difficulty paying taxes and duties and over 72%, equal to 18 million, have problems dealing with unexpected expenses such as medical or home repairs. Almost 50% of families, then, have planned to cut their consumption.
More and more, then, Italian families tend to postpone some payments, such as bills, condominium expenses and school fees: a behavior that was widespread in 13% of families in March 2012 and which now reaches the record quota of 30%. The percentage of families who turned to banks to receive a loan rose from 6% to 11,5%.
It was unthinkable that such figures did not affect the confidence of Italians: compared to a year ago, optimists fell from 37% to 30% while the number of uncertainties doubled, from 16% to 33%.
