The poor in Italy, including children, there are more than five millionout of a population of about 60 million people. This is what emerges from the calculations by Istat, which considers the living conditions of these individuals to be of "absolute poverty". Despite the timid economic recovery that has characterized recent years, this is the highest value recorded since 2005, ie since this figure was calculated by the Institute of Statistics.
To be precise, Istat estimates that in 2017 families in absolute poverty are 1 million and 778 thousand; 5 million and 58 thousand individuals live within them. The incidence of absolute poverty is 6,9% for families (it was 6,3% in 2016) and 8,4% for individuals (from 7,9%). One of the factors – but not the only one – is inflation: in fact, statisticians attribute two tenths of a point of the annual growth of both values to the increase in prices, which are the highest in the historical series.
But what is meant by “absolute poverty”? By "absolutely poor", Istat means those who cannot afford sufficient monthly expenditure to purchase goods and services considered essential for a minimally acceptable standard of living (and which therefore varies according to the components of the nucleus and the territory). The threshold of relative poverty is instead - for a family of two members - equal to the average expenditure per person in the country: in 2017 it was 1.085,22 euros per month. And relative poverty has also grown compared to 2016: last year it affected 3 million 171 thousand resident families (12,3%, against 10,6% in 2016), and 9 million 368 thousand individuals (15,6% against 14,0 .XNUMX% of the previous year).
Again, the South is suffering the most where the incidence of absolute poverty increases both for families (from 8,5% in 2016 to 10,3%) and for individuals (from 9,8% to 11,4%), "above all due to the worsening recorded in municipalities in the center of the metropolitan area (from 5,8% to 10,1%) and in smaller municipalities with up to 50 inhabitants (from 7,8% in 2016 to 9,8%)". But, notes Istat, even in the metropolitan areas of the North - both in the centers and in the suburbs - poverty has increased.
Un worried look goes to the minors, among which absolute poverty, albeit slightly improving, "remains high and equal to 12,1% (1 million 208 thousand, 12,5% in 2016); it therefore stands at 10,5% among families where there is at least one minor child, remaining very common among those with three or more minor children (20,9%)”. Added to this aspect is another worrying indication for the youngest, i.e. that the incidence of absolute poverty has a higher level when the younger the age of the reference person in the family is: under 35 it reaches 9,6, XNUMX%.
