• Caritas Italiana publishes its 21st report on poverty and social exclusion, entitled "L'anello debole".
• There are different types of poverty: one of these is intergenerational and hereditary poverty.
• In addition to strengthening existing social safety nets, Caritas proposes further social inclusion measures.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Caritas Italiana presented its 21st report on poverty and social exclusion, entitled L'anello debole. The report reveals that there is no single form of poverty: there are many, exacerbated by the disastrous effects of the pandemic — still ongoing — and by the repercussions of the nearby war in Ukraine. In 2021, there were approximately 5.6 million people living in absolute poverty in Italy, of whom 1.4 million were children.

Who are the "weak links"

More broadly, households in absolute poverty account for 9.4 per cent of the population residing in Italy, and between 2020 and 2021 the incidence of poverty grew faster than average for households with at least 4 members. In 2022, too, the number of people turning to Caritas listening centres continues to rise (+7.7 per cent compared to 2021): these are not always newly poor people, but also individuals who oscillate between being "in and out", as the report puts it, of a state of need. Some 23.6 per cent of them are in work: this condition reaches its peak among foreign nationals, demonstrating how inadequately remunerated work can be.

Among the "weak links" identified in the report are, above all, young people affected by many forms of poverty: from hereditary poverty, which is passed down "from father to child" — meaning that a person born into a poor family needs at least five generations to reach an average income level — to educational poverty, such that only 8 per cent of young people whose parents have no upper-secondary qualification manage to obtain a university degree.

When poverty is inherited

The risk of remaining trapped in situations of economic vulnerability, for those coming from a family background of fragility, is in practice very high. For those placed in the most disadvantaged positions on the social ladder, there are few opportunities to access higher levels — hence the expressions used in the report of "sticky floors and sticky ceilings" ("dei pavimenti e dei soffitti appiccicosi", "sticky grounds e sticky ceilings").

The link between current living conditions and starting conditions manifests itself on various fronts beyond the economic one. First and foremost in education. People living in poverty today, born between 1966 and 1986, come predominantly from family units with low levels of education, in some cases without qualifications or even illiterate (more than 60 per cent of parents hold at most a primary school certificate).

Some 70 per cent of the fathers of those assisted by Caritas are found to be employed in low-skilled occupations. For mothers, the proportion of housewives is extremely high (63.8 per cent), while among those in employment low-skilled roles predominate. About one in five children has maintained the same occupational position as their fathers, and 42.8 per cent have instead experienced downward mobility (particularly among those with a low level of education).

Just over a third (36.8 per cent) have, by contrast, experienced upward mobility in terms of professional qualification, even though that level of qualification has not always been matched by employment or an adequate contractual and pay grade.

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"Certo, è vero che la crisi energetica e quindi tutti gli aumenti dei costi e l’inflazione accentueranno queste condizioni di povertà estrema, ma quindi, a maggior ragione, dobbiamo essere ancora più fermi nell’indicare le soluzioni, anche nell’emergenza". Card. Matteo Zuppi

♥ 138💬 6 18 ott 2022 · Apri su X →

The solution is not to abolish the basic income scheme

The report concludes with an assessment of anti-poverty policies, with particular attention to investment prospects arising from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) and from the reddito di cittadinanza, which the parties of the governing majority have stated they wish to reduce.

"The reddito di cittadinanza has so far been received by 4.7 million people, but reaches just under half of those in absolute poverty (44 per cent)," the report states. "It would therefore be advisable to ensure that all those in the worst conditions are reached, starting with those in absolute poverty."

But the economic component is not the solution to every problem. For Caritas, support must also come from adequate processes of social inclusion, directed at the unemployed, working poor or vulnerable workers, both young and adult, and at recipients of social safety net measures. According to the organisation, these are 3 million people to be trained or reskilled by 2025, of whom 75 per cent will be women, long-term unemployed, young people under 30 and those over 55.