Over one in four Italians risk poverty, exclusion

(ANSA) - Rome, November 23 - Over one in four people in Italy, or 28.3%, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2014, Istat said on Monday. The figure is steady with respect to that for 2013. The national statistics agency said in a report that 19.4% of people were at risk of poverty, 11.6% lived in seriously deprived families and 12.1% were members of households of "low work intensity".
    It said the risk of poverty or social exclusion was much higher in the less wealthy south, with a rate of 46.4% - an improvement on 48% in 2013 - compared to 17.3% in the north and 22.8% in the centre.
    The proportion of people in Italy enduring severe deprivation fell for the second consecutive year in 2014, dropping to 11.6% compared to 12.3% in 2013, Istat said. The national statistics agency said this is the lowest level since 2011. It said the proportion of people unable to afford a meal containing a significant amount of protein fell from 13.9% to 12.6%. Those unable to afford a one-week holiday or an unexpected expense of 800-euros dropped to 49.5% from 51% in 2013 in Italy, which this year returned to positive growth in 2015 after years of recession. Consumers associations Federconsumatori and Adusbef described the data as "extremely alarming", saying the number of people living in deprivation was the stuff of the Third World.
    "This is unacceptable for a country that calls itself civilised," the associations said in a statement. "The fact that almost 50% of Italians cannot afford to go on holiday for a week means that we are worse off than in the post-war period, when workers' families could go back to their home towns when the factories closed in August and be with their relatives".
    Istat also said that half of Italian households had a net income of 2,026 euros a month or less in 2013.
    Farmers association Coldiretti said the figures showed that the degree of poverty experienced by some is bound to affect nutrition, even though the number unable to afford one decent meal a day had dropped 25% in the last three years. It said that data showed that some six million Italians do not have enough money to feed themselves properly.