When the sum of all social differences - from the digital one to that of financial knowledge - row against full female empowerment, women react by claiming greater opportunities for employment participation, to be the driving force behind a change in the country's development trend which lead to equal pay and effective pensions, and not just a dead letter of disregarded constitutional provisions. Today's Conference (“Women and financial culture. An investment for the future"), which signs an agreement between the Bank of Italy and the National Council of Notaries, is another fundamental element not only of authoritative institutions, but of social actors who play a fundamental role in supporting Italian families in the most delicate moments of decision-making of life.
Participating and bringing one's testimony means giving an account of a common commitment between Institutions and the Third Sector which are the prerequisite for those objectives of inclusion and social cohesion represented in Mission 5 of the PNRR.
Six years ago, after careful consideration of the effects of Istanbul Convention – a fundamental legal instrument for protecting women from any form of violence – combined with the declaration of intent of the 2030 Agenda, centered on a key global objective such as that ofgender equality, I understood that all the experience observed during international meetings at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have always been committed to financial inclusion policies for the most fragile, offered an important starting point even outside the Emerging Countries with which I worked for years.
That Goal 5 on gender equality was the starting point on which to focus a model of action with a social background which, starting from financial education, would allow triggering gender-based violence found ineconomic isolation, and in the discomfort created by the financial abuse suffered, a greater vulnerability in women and families, where there is not a full sharing of choices on personal well-being which, inevitably, passes from a careful and aware management of incomes over time in a perspective of savings and sustainable balance.
We are in the second year of analyzing the social impact of a Project like Women Squared which, in three years, has exceeded 6 participants and, thanks to a strategic model for the implementation of traditional training proposals - to which have been added, in addition to usability of the contents, updated digitally every six months, a support service through a listening desk that supports participants on all legal, tax, curricular and entrepreneurial issues – we have created an effective system of prevention of economic violence, to be shared with our stakeholders. This also led to the publication of a scientific paper by the International Statistical Association at the Conference "Statistics and Information Systems for Policy Evaluation 2021", held at the University of Florence.
Starting from financial well-being means feeling more secure than your own future of economic and social stability, and thus make choices independently and increase personal well-being which must be the primary purpose of anyone involved in financial literacy.
The synthetic index obtained saw an implementation of the statistical measurement model through a longitudinal analysis between the last two years.
Positive outcomes have been noted on some important aspects of theself-esteem and self-determination, in particular with improved levels in: informed choice of products, awareness of debt awareness, mastery and confidence in one's financial skills and management of impulsivity.
The group that offers the best results are the retirees and female pensioners, and an impact inversely proportional to the level of education distributed between North and South is also noted.
If ten years ago there was no talk of analysis of social impact, but only of concreteness in the planning action, now also thanks to the new regulatory system that characterizes the third sector, the variable of change is introduced from the actions implemented and proposed also and, above all, when deriving from a strategic philanthropy which is complementary to the traditional one, but which is defined in the measurable mark it leaves on society. Free projects spread throughout the country and continued over time are the forward-looking keystone of future design guidelines but also a tool for addressing inequalities that go far beyond educational poverty but have also widened due to new layers of economic poverty represented by workers who have suffered a dramatic loss of social status in the pandemic.
Making sense of the change: it means analyzing the phenomena starting from the scientific literature, combining them with experience in the field, and therefore on the national territory, and with that of the beneficiaries of the dedicated projects that are thus evolving. Our territory tells very different stories, and thus offers quite homogeneous conceptions and cultural heritages, for example on the family budget and on the current account but very different on the social security aspects between North and South. Giving Women the opportunity for more information and training, services to the family and therefore the opportunity to access or return to work stronger than before in their independence of action means put a spin on all those gender differentials that characterize our country.
Now the PNRR evidently brings us back to this common commitment, now essential, between the third sector as described, and between institutions, professional bodies and trade associations, all social actors called to urgently change their way of acting as a response to the pandemic, and united in a common need of support families hit hard by the resulting economic crisis. This communion of intentions in itself means evolving our society for the better, and meeting that dutiful acknowledgment of the responsibilities we have towards the new generations, and for a regeneration of our communities on new, more inclusive bases and sustainable.
