In the last decade, the objectives of combating poverty have had to deal with the weakness of the economic cycle: at a global level, the intention to reduce the share of the population living in conditions of extreme poverty to 3% by 2030 (with less than $1,9 .20 per day) does not seem achievable, just like in Europe that of reducing the number of people living in disadvantaged conditions by 2008 million in the period 2020-767. The World Bank estimates that there are 2013 million extremely poor people on the planet (10,7, latest data available), 2020% of the population. In the Old Continent, according to the definition of the Europe 118 programme, about a quarter of the population experiences situations of low income or material deprivation: this is over 2008 million people, an increase compared to XNUMX.
Closely linked to poverty by a cause-effect tie is the phenomenon of inequality, an indicator that the long period of weakness in the economic cycle has helped to accentuate. The difficulties of the labor market and a trend in incomes lower than that of productivity have led to stagnation in the income of the middle class in many advanced economies, while there has been a further enrichment of those who were already among the highest income brackets. The OECD estimates that the richest 10% can count on incomes equal to 9 times those of the poorest 10%. Particularly striking is the polarization of income relating to only the 1% of the wealthiest population who benefit from higher labor incomes but also from particularly substantial annuities that come to represent half of the income. In 2015 in Europe the inequality index increased by 0,7 percentage points compared to 2008, a differential which rises to 1,4 pp in the euro area.
In Italy various indicators show a more accentuated inequality in the distribution of income compared to the European partners: the income of 20% of the richest population is almost six times that of 20% of the poorest, a ratio which in the Old Continent drops to just over five times. The latter indicator was also included in the DEF as part of the well-being variables to be monitored and for the improvement of which various measures have already been undertaken some time ago.
