Six million pensioners get less than 1,000 euros

(ANSA) - Rome, December 3 - Six million pensioners get less than 1,000 euros ($1,100) a month, national statistics agency Istat said Thursday in dramatic new testimony of the stark gap between the poorer and richer beneficiaries of the Italian pension system.
    The government has said it means to address some of this inequality, starting next year, with a possible reduction in the so-called 'golden pensions' enjoyed by a lucky few.
    The main scope of its promised intervention, however, will be to allow people to retire earlier on less if they want, mitigating the harmful effects of a widely hated 2011 pension reform enacted by then-labour minister Elsa Fornero under former premier Mario Monti as part of their 'save Italy' moves.
    More than four out of 10 Italian pensioners, or 40.3%, get less than 1,000 euros a month, Istat said Thursday, publishing 2014 figures. That is more than six and a half million people, it said.
    Almost half of Italy's women pensioners, or 49.2%, don't reach 1,000 euros in their monthly cheques, Istat said Thursday on 2014 figures. That is more than 4.2 million women, it said. Of these, some 1.169 million get less than 500 euros.
    At the other end of the scale, almost 240,000 Italian pensioners, or 1.4% of the total, get more than 5,000 euros a month, Istat said. Another 767,000, or 4.7% of Italy's 16.25 million pensioners, can count on pensions between 3,000 and 5,000 euros a month, it said.
    More than 13,000 Italians got pensions of more than 10,000 euros a month in 2014, Istat said - 0.1% of the total number of pensioners. Another 217,000 got pensions between 5,000 and 10,000 euros, making the number of pensioners with more than 5,000 euros a month some 230,000.
    More than a quarter of Italian pensioners, or 25.4%, get two pension cheques each month, Istat said. That is more than four million people, it said. Some 7.8% get three or more pensions.
    The number of pensioners in Italy fell by more than 400,000 between 2011 and 2014 - from 16,668,000 to 16,259,000 - due to a controversial pension reform enacted by the Monti government in 2011, Istat said. Spending on pensions was up 0.2% to 17.17% of GDP in 2014 compared to 2013. Spending totalled 277 billion euros, a cash rise of 1.6%, the statistics agency said. Some 23.2 million pensions were paid out.
    Istat also said 47.7% of Italian pensions are paid out in the north of the country, amounting to 50.5% of spending and 48.2% of pensioners while 20.4% of pensions go to central regions (21.4% of spending), Istat said. The remaining 31.9% of pensions are paid out in the south, amounting to 28.1% of overall spending. Istat was publishing figures for 2014.