In 2015, it was estimated that 28,7% of people residing in Italy were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This was reported by Istat, specifying that the share is substantially stable compared to that of 2014 (28,3%), summarizing an increase in individuals at risk of poverty (from 19,4% to 19,9%) and the decrease of those living in families with low work intensity (from 12,1% to 11,7%). However, the estimate of those who live in severely deprived families remains unchanged (11,5%).
Southern Italy is still the most exposed area: in 2015, the estimate of people involved rose to 46,4%, from 45,6% the previous year. The share is also increasing in the Center (from 22,1% to 24%), but concerns less than a quarter of people, while in the North there is a drop from 17,9% to 17,4%.
People living in families with five or more members are those most at risk of poverty or social exclusion: they go up to 43,7% in 2015 from 40,2% in 2014, but the share rises to 48,3% (from 39,4 .51,2%) if it concerns couples with three or more children and reaches 42,8% (from XNUMX%) in families with three or more minors.
Furthermore, Istat informs that in 2014, excluding notional rents, the average annual net income per family was 29.472 euros (about 2.456 euros per month). Considering inflation, for the first time average income remains essentially stable in real terms compared to 2013 (-12% which becomes -10% if we consider the adjustment for family size and composition, i.e. the equivalent income).
Half of the families residing in Italy receive a net income not exceeding 24.190 euros per year (about 2.016 euros per month), substantially stable compared to 2013; in the South it drops to 20.000 euros (about 1.667 euros per month). The novelty, however, underlines Istat, is the fact that family income in real terms interrupts "a fall in progress since 2009, which has led to an overall reduction of approximately 12% in the purchasing power of families".
Among families whose main source is income from work, one out of two has approximately 29.406 euros in the case of dependent work and no more than 28.556 euros in the case of self-employment. For families who live mainly on pensions or public transfers, the sum drops to 19.487 euros.
Including notional rents, the richest 20% of households are estimated to receive 37,3% of total equivalent income, the poorest 20% only 7,7%. From 2009 to 2014, income in real terms fell more for families belonging to the poorest 20%, widening the distance from the richest families whose income fell from 4,6 to 4,9 times that of the poorest.
