Italy poverty spending less than half EU average Istat says

(ANSA) - Rome, March 14 - National statistics bureau Istat on Monday said that 0.7% of Italy's current public spending is allocated to the fight against poverty, less than half that of the EU average of 1.9%.
    In testimony in the Lower House on Monday during a hearing before the Labour and Social Affairs Committees regarding an anti-poverty bill, Istat said that in 2014, 1.47 million Italian families were classified as living in absolute poverty.
    Of those, poverty is worst in the country's south, with 704,000 families in absolute poverty, representing 45.5% of the overall total.
    Istat said absolute poverty figures experienced a jump between 2012 and 2013 - increasing a full 5% in the country's south, from 5.1% to 10.1% - before stabilising in 2014.