The data published by the OECD on the state of health of the Italian population are not at all reassuring. According to the study, our country is heading towards an increasingly rapid aging of the population and with growing disparities. Already today Italy is among the oldest countries in the world, and the situation will worsen in the coming years.
To date, for every 100 people there are 38 over-65s, compared to 23 in 1980. According to forecasts, in 2050 there will be 65 over-74s for every 100. This figure will make Italy the third oldest country in the OECD, preceded only from Spain and Japan. The OECD therefore underlined the centrality of reforms and initiatives that promote the participation of older workers.
The trend of the last few decades certainly does not help to improve the situation. From the end of the XNUMXs to today, young people have always been disadvantaged, in economic terms, compared to the older generations, encountering high barriers to entering the labor market and therefore finding themselves forced into atypical and very often unwanted jobs.
The trend described is evident in the employment rate, which for 55-64 year olds increased much more between 2000 and 2016 (+23 points) than for workers between 25 and 54 (+1 point) and above all compared to young people whose employment took an about-face (-11 points).
In addition, in the last thirty years the income of the population between 60 and 64 years of age has grown by 25% more than that of the 30-34 age group, while the OECD average is a limited increase of 13%. The poverty rate has soared for young people, while it has decreased for the elderly. Based on OECD data between the mid-80s and 2014, the poverty rate in Italy increased by 3,2 points on average (against 2,6 OECD), but the figure reflects an increase of around 7 points per young people up to 25 years old and a drop of 1 point for 61-65 year olds and -9,5 points for 66-75 year olds (OECD average -2,5).
