Welfare, Italians reduce expenses and hope for the return of the escalator – Corriere.it

Revenue will not increase this year for three out of four Italians who therefore think they will reduce expenses for clothing, travel and leisure. And there are also those (4 out of 10) who feel they have to give up spending money on medical treatments and visits. The risk that the poor and social inequalities will increase. For these reasons, almost 9 out of 10 citizens want the back to the escalator. The results of the quarter are summarized Censis-Tendercapital report presented in Senate on “social sustainability and the renewed challenge of welfare Italian”, whose objective is to focus attention, through the opinions, behaviors and values ​​of Italians, on the difficulties encountered by the two pillars of the Italian social model, families and the state, who are called to measure themselves against new hardships and global crises. Welfare will be able to return to providing essential universal services, amortize excessive inequalities and support people – analysts explain – only with the return of work as the primary source of opportunities for income and social growth.

Italians are worried about the near future of society. 84.9% say they see uncertainty and insecurity. Alarm the blockage of social mobility, which for 58.6% of citizens will increase social inequalities. For 43.3%, there will be less equity and social justice in Italian society; 36.9% fear less attention to workers’ rights. The rise in prices catalyzes the fears of Italians. 75.4% of employed people are convinced that they will not have increases in family income next year, while 73.9% of Italians think they will have to reduce expenses. Reaction to the threat of inflation leads 86.9% to be in favor of index wages, wages and salaries to rising prices, returning to the sliding scale. Higher prices translate into lower consumption of goods and services for the same income, so 59.7% of Italians are convinced that they will have to reduce spending on shoes and clothing, 62.3% those on holidays, travel and free time, while 41.7% think they will have to give up full-paying medical treatments or visits, with their own resources. However, household incomes and consumption expenditures held up well in 2022. In fact, the gross disposable income of consumer households remained unchanged in the comparison between the I-III quarters of 2021 and the same quarters of 2022, with a real -0.3%.

From the fourth Censis-Tendercapital Report (on a sample of a thousand citizens subjected to telephone interviews carried out from 5 to 12 October 2022 with a selection stratified by age, educational qualification and representative by geographical area of ​​residence) also emerges as household savings, in the comparison between the first 9 months of 2022 and those of 2021 , suffered a drastic contraction in nominal (minus 292 billion) and real (-11.3%) terms. Cash, on the other hand, nominally increased by 36 billion, undergoing a real reduction of 3.8%. There are 7.5 million people belonging to families whose income barely covers expenditure and, compared to 2010, both workers in absolute poverty (they were 3% of the total) and in relative poverty (they were 7%). Furthermore, public welfare is increasingly struggling: 67.3% of Italians, in the twelve months preceding the interview, had to go to the private sector to obtain healthcare services. So alone 40.4% satisfied with the functioning of the National Health Service of his Region, while in 2019 it was 55%. 90.4% of Italians, with percentages transversal to income, professional status, age and educational qualification, declare themselves in favor of setting a minimum wage by law. About the Basic income, 65.1% of Italians consider it a tool to help people in difficulty; at the same time, 73.2% are convinced that this tool discourages people from working, while over 88% believe that public money should be used to encourage job search. For the president of Censis, Giuseppe De Rita, our society is marked by a crucial element: the fear of future uncertainty. what most conditions expectations and often shows reality as darker than it is. Unfortunately, inflation, the war, the energy crisis have generated problems and, however, so far social sustainability in Italy has held up well. Second the president of Tendercapital, Moreno Zani, the data of the fourth Report clearly highlight the difficulties that the two pillars of the Italian social model, families and the State, are encountering today. In fact, the economic hardships of many households are growing and, despite the fact that in 2022 both income and consumption expenditure held up well, it is necessary to take note of a severe contraction in their savings. Words shared by Maurizio Gasparri, vice president of the Senate: The Report highlights perplexities, concerns and expectations related to inflation and the economic and social context. It goes deep Federico Freni, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance: In the post-pandemic period, the Italian social model has experienced a sort of midlife crisis, but not an identity crisis. In some countries, such as the Anglo-Saxon ones, social structures have shown a fragility.