Abolishing citizenship income, a form of social assistance the government provides to people with a very small source of income, is one of the hot topics of the election campaign in Italy, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, as cited by Rador.

ISTAT, the Italian statistics office, estimated that the measure lifted one million people out of poverty. Eurostat (Statistical Institute of the European Union) reported on Tuesday that Italy’s at-risk-of-poverty rate, the percentage of people with an income 60% below the average, rose from 20% in 2020 to 20.1%. % in 2021, touching 11.84 million people.

It is not difficult to imagine that with the massive increase in prices, starting with bills, recorded in recent months, the situation will deteriorate even worse during 2022.

According to Eurostat, this percentage can reach 25.2% (14.83 million people), if we also take into account people who are at risk of social exclusion, that is, those who are at risk of poverty, who cannot afford a number of material goods, social activities or life . in households with unstable incomes.

The risk of poverty among children in Italy

Even more alarming is the fact that more than one in four Italian children under the age of six live in families that are on the verge of poverty. The exact percentage is 26.7%, down from 23.8% in 2020, the worst since 1995.

In particular, we are talking about 667 thousand children, which is 7 thousand more than in 2020. The percentage of minors at risk of poverty reached 26% (from 25.1% in 2020), while the proportion of elderly people in the same position decreased to 15.6% (from 16.8%) thanks to stable pensions that are not yet threatened by inflation, which exploded in 2022.

In Germany, the poverty risk level for people over 65 is 19.4%, women suffer the most (20.7%).

Eurostat also observes an increase in the number of the “working poor”, workers who, despite having a job and therefore a salary or income, remain at risk of poverty. Eurostat tables show that the poverty rate in Italy excluding social transfers (excluding pensions) is 28.5%, compared to 25.3% in 2020.

If in Italy due to transfers the share of the poor decreased by 8.4 points, in Germany – by more than 10 points (to 15.8%), and in Spain – by 9.5 (to 21.7%).