Some 28.4% of people living in
Italy - over one quarter of the resident population - were at
risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2013, national statistics
agency Istat said Thursday.
The figure, contained in a report on earnings and life
conditions, actually represented an improvement on 2012, when
the percentage of Italian residents facing poverty or exclusion
was 29.9%.
Istat said last year the risk of poverty or exclusion
dropped for elderly people living alone from 41.7% to 38.3% and
for couples with one child from 24.3% to 21.7%.
However it increased for families with three or more
children, from 39.8% to 43.7%, the agency added.
The risk was even higher for families with three or more
children under 18 or with a single source of income,
respectively at 45.4% and 46.1%.
On a geographical basis people living in southern Italy
were at greatest risk of poverty or social inclusion, according
to the same study.
Last year 46.2% of people living in southern regions faced
poverty or exclusion, Istat said.
However, as for the national statistics, this figure was
also down on 2012, by 3.7%.
Meanwhile a separate study by farmers' association
Coldiretti, also published on Thursday, said that the number of
Italians requiring food aid rose from 2.7 million in 2010 to
just over 4 million in 2013 as Italy struggled to emerge from
its longest and deepest recession since the Second World War.
Specifically last year 303,485 people ate charity soup
kitchen meals and a further 3,764,765 - particularly pensioners,
the unemployed and families with small children - received
assistance in the form of food parcels, Coldiretti said.
However, Coldiretti stressed that the figures represented
only the tip of the iceberg, with many more Italians having
difficulty securing adequate nutrition.
According to Istat, for example, 14.2% of families are
unable to afford a meal with an adequate protein content at
least once every two days.
Likewise the Italian agriculturalists' association CIA on
Thursday highlighted the fact that 65% of Italian families have
reduced the quality and quantity of food purchased in the last
year.
This figure rises to 77% in southern regions, CIA added.
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