Social disparities, in the last fifteen years poverty has created a two-speed country, it is young people and children who pay

MILAN – A two-speed Italy, this is the merciless photograph that emerges from the first report by Cariplo Foundation “Growing up in Italy, beyond inequalities”. A research work aimed at creating knowledge on the different dimensions of differences, but also at bringing the theme of inequalities to the attention of the public debate through “A new perspective that can be useful for developing by uniting the different social actors new and more effective solutions for the development of more inclusive societies and to provide a knowledge tool for professionals and non-professionals alike”, explains Valeria Negrini – Vice-President of the Via Manin Foundation. The work highlighted a multidimensional image of inequalities: economic and income, which intersects with that in citizens’ learning and health paths, up to the construction of the person and the vision of “one’s place in the world”.

Vice-President Negrini, why did you choose to focus on Milan, one of the richest cities in the country?

Unfortunately, there are two Milans, the one you are talking about and another that you often cannot see. The survey, then, was conducted on a local scale in order to have a context of such dimensions as to allow for the emergence of the different dynamics coexisting in the same territory, in this case that of Milan, which acted as an “incubator” for an analysis in the field and made it possible to investigate the “outlook” dimension, ie the gaze on one’s own future, by the youngest. Milan and its surrounding area are in fact, for researchers, an outpost capable of anticipating emerging and transversal social phenomena and are at the same time an extraordinary laboratory of solidarity that makes it possible to intercept needs and imagine new solutions.

The report reads of “chained” inequalities

Understanding how inequalities find their causes in economic but also socio-cultural factors is essential to allow us to operate in terms of support for fragility but also and above all to invest in educational and training courses. A job that must necessarily be carried out in synergy with bodies, institutions and above all schools”. But for the Cariplo Foundation, which in its thirty years of activity has supported no less than 37,732 projects disbursing over 3.9 billion euros for the area, the problem is above all one of method.

About 40 thousand projects that make you the first Italian philanthropic institution, can you tell us about the “Cariplo method”?

At Cariplo we operate on three macro-directions: first of all a deep understanding of the problem we face by carefully analyzing the context, an eye towards innovation because we believe that information technology and digitization can be precious tools for imagining new solutions and last but not certainly most importantly, the belief that diversity is not an obstacle but rather an added value. We move from this idea to ensure that every action is the result of real interaction and participation with and of all the players in the area, primarily in the Third Sector, because this is how we can create ideas for the future, together.

The report photographs the wounds of individual people but in the end the problems fall on everyone

Of course, the whole community and especially the young are paying the price, to the point of becoming an obstacle to the development of the country system. The society? reality, the one we know and live, has a level of development lower than its potential? due to inequalities. As long as we continue to think that inequalities concern only those who suffer the worst consequences. The crux of the matter risks escaping: inequality is an anti-constitutional concept, because an impoverishment of the country undermines the democratic participation of its citizens. The conviction, which has always inspired the Cariplo Foundation, of wanting to invest in people’s potential and community ties, emerges even more strongly in a context like the one we are experiencing today.”

Has the country really become so impoverished? Many speak enthusiastically of a post-pandemic restart

If you consider that between 1995 and today, 50% of the poorest population has seen their share of assets fall from 10.2% to 2.5%, while the richest 0.1%, made up of financial and entrepreneurial activities, have seen considerably increase its share from 5.5% in 1995 to the current 9.2% the scenario is very clear. There is a problem related to the quality of economic well-being but also and above all to quality: in 2021 around 1.7 million families were in a situation of absolute poverty, while in 2005 there were just 819 thousand. This is accompanied by a fact that is very far from the common perception: families in absolute poverty reside mostly in the northern regions (835 thousand ed), even if slightly surpassing the poor nuclei of the south (826 thousand ed). The scenario does not change, indeed it worsens if we look at individuals: there are currently almost 5.6 million people in poverty in Italy, 2.3 million in the north, 2.5 in the south and 861,000 in the centre. Overall, 1.9 million individuals were poor in 2005, again registering a much more than double growth.

So Covid wasn’t one of the factors that increased poverty?

The pandemic has certainly aggravated the situation, but above all it has shown us reality for what it was, showing even more how much the gap between poverty and wealth had widened: as the difficulties increased, the social security system risked not holding up, going to affect more than other young people and families with young children. The choice we made to embrace such a vast period of time, from 2005 to 2021, was precisely not to focus our attention on the last two years, but to try to see the trend in inequality over a broad timeline. And today we have to restart from the idea that no resource should be wasted: young people, Italians or foreigners, must rightfully find their place in the world.”

In this scenario, can school really still be considered a functioning social elevator?

Unfortunately not, economic poverty, in fact, affects above all the compulsory education courses and in particular of the most disadvantaged groups of students, indeed contributing to sediment the initial learning inequalities that derive from the different socio-economic backgrounds. In fact, growing up in a certain social context tends to influence people’s attitudes from the very first years of life and this is evident more and more precociously, starting with kindergarten children. This conditions learning but, in a more profound way, it conditions the gaze on oneself and on the world: 55% of young people who grow up in the city center think of going abroad; only 29% of those who grow up in the suburbs. Differences also emerge, starting from the pre-school age, between the ability to identify with, trust and read the context: all crucial skills for the person and for his social, working and collective life. That’s why we believe that “social mobility” is a goal that must be supported. But the point from which we start is an all uphill road: today in Italy only 8% of young people with parents without a higher qualification obtain a university diploma (22% the average OECD ed) .

An all-Italian problem: in short, the social classes are still there but you can’t see them anymore

The most disadvantaged students are often concentrated in the most disadvantaged institutions while more competitive school environments attract more advantaged students. And as if that weren’t enough, Italy has one of the highest dropout rates in the European Union, equal to 13.1%, a phenomenon also in this case conditioned by family origin, with a very high incidence of dropouts among young people whose parents have a lower educational or professional level. Rare case of equality, but with a sad note, since the phenomenon concerns in an almost identical way, under equal conditions, young people with non-Italian citizenship. The latter, together with students who come from disadvantaged economic and cultural backgrounds, students residing in the South and those who have not attended kindergarten and nursery school see an increase in educational inequalities assessed in terms of skills and knowledge register at 7 years. In the eighth grade there are no significant changes in results and therefore those who were more fragile have remained behind, while the pupils who had recorded higher results in the INVALSI continue to maintain this position.

Let’s take some examples

35% of children born abroad fall into the group of students with “Very poor” learning, against less than 20% of Italians. More than 70% of foreign students who were in the two low groups in second grade remain in the same groups after finishing eighth grade. Fragilities thus spread and add up: there is a coexistence between different forms of exclusion and “poverty” that affect various dimensions of people’s lives; where the level of education is higher, the population has better general health conditions.

So less education means less health care?

Exactly, the problem tout-court has repercussions on nutrition: among graduates, 33% are overweight while 23% of them can claim to have adequate nutrition. The same indicators in subjects with an educational level not higher than the average are respectively 56% and 16.4%. Even confidence in the future and the importance attached to topics such as climate change vary according to the level of education. In particular, concern about climate change grows with higher educational qualifications, while confidence in the future decreases among those with lower educational qualifications. Different forms of inequality contribute together to define the daily life and living conditions of all.

Do inequalities have a dynastic trend?

Inequalities are handed down. And the societies that hand down education in such a stable way, as happens in Italy, are also the most unequal societies. Indeed, in unequal societies, a rift is created between the potential development index and the real development index. In other words, real society, the one we know and live in, has a level of development below its potential due to inequalities and we have a duty to fight them.