More retirees than active workers, equality threshold breached in 39 provinces: that’s where – Corriere.it

In 37% of the Italian provinces the number of pensioners exceeds that of the employed. In Reggio Calabria there are 67 active workers for every 100 pensioners, in Messina the ratio is 72 for every 100, in Foggia 88, in Naples 96. Almost all the main cities of the South are below parity, with some exceptions: in Bari there are 102 employed for every 100 pensioners, in Matera 105, in Barletta 111. Between the cities of the North, Genoa and Turin slightly exceed the parity threshold. In Rome and Milan for every 100 pensioners there are 133 employed. The best figure is that of Bolzano, where there are 162 active workers for every 100 retirees. To photograph the situation is the Only 24 hours.

Parity exceeded in 39 provinces

Overall, there are 39 provinces in which pensioners exceed employed persons. In addition to those already mentioned, the provinces in which pensions outnumber the workforce are: Catanzaro, Crotone, Vibo Valentia, Lecce, Cosenza, Caltanissetta, Oristano, L’Aquila , Taranto, Terni, Nuoro, Isernia, Benevento, Palermo, Campobasso, Agrigento, Potenza, Trapani, Biella, Enna, Ancona, Rieti, Catania, Perugia, Ferrara, Syracuse, Imperia, Ascoli Piceno, Vercelli, Rovigo, Avellino, Asti, Salerno, Savona and Chieti. The fragile balance on which the Italian pension system has stood so far under these conditions seems destined to collapse. In the face of a continuous aging of the population, the growth of employment, which even in March reached record levels not seen since 2004, is not enough to guarantee the necessary rebalancing for the stability of the system.

The flight of young people from the South

The negative record in the South is mainly affected by the fact that many young people are leaving, in addition to the higher unemployment rate than in the rest of the country. According to an analysis by Istat in January on the critical issues in the South, in 2020 the South and Islands lost as many as 42 young residents (25-34 years old) for every 100 personal data movements in internal extra-regional flows (+ 22 in the Centre-North) and 56 out of 100 in foreign markets (49 in the Centre-North). The phenomenon is more accentuated in the provinces with low employment and in the so-called internal areas.

Early retirement and maintenance of the system

Early retirements also weigh on the fragile balance of the Italian social security system. According to data from the tenth annual report of the Social Security Itineraries Study Center, led by Alberto Brambilla, presented in January, in 2021 the ratio between active workers and pensioners improved slightly: overall there are 22.8 million employed for 16.1 million of retirees. However, the stability of the system risks being undermined “by too many exceptions to the Monti-Fornero reform”. According to the report, in order to guarantee the stability of the system, it would be necessary to reduce, as early as 2023, the numerous forms of pension advances in favor of a lasting revision of the system.

The demographic crisis

Above all, the aging of the population and the consequent reduction of people of working age weigh on the stability of the Italian pension system: already today, the over 50s represent 39.0% of the employed. According to an analysis by the Di Vittorio Foundation (Cigl), the decline in the population and its aging over the next 20 years (+4.9 million over 65s and -900 thousand under 15s) will bring down the number of people of working age , i.e. those between 15 and 64 years of age, of 6.9 million units in 2043.