Poverty in Italy

The [[City Angels organisation providing aid to the homeless in Milan|thumb]]

During the era of Italian unification in 1861, the Italian population, while among the largest in Europe, faced notable economic challenges, with over 40% of individuals having disposable incomes insufficient to meet basic needs. This period was characterised by widespread illiteracy and child labour. Moreover, labour, goods, and capital markets were comparatively underdeveloped, and transportation infrastructures, especially in the Southern regions, were notably inadequate. The subsequent six decades, preceding the rise of Fascism and the global economic crisis of 1929, witnessed significant improvements across various domains, albeit unevenly distributed among sectors and regions.{{Cite book |last1=Saraceno |first1=Chiara |title=Poverty in Italy: Features and Drivers in a European Perspective |last2=Benassi |first2=David |last3=Moricchio |first3=Enrica |date=2020 |publisher=Bristol University Press |pages=40–53 |language=en}}

These measures concluded in a significant reduction of the level of absolute poverty in Italy, to around 26% in 1921. After the economic crisis of 1929, and in the early years of the Fascist regime, absolute poverty began to rise again. Although the Fascist regime adopted a fairly modern social welfare programme for public employees, the needs and risks of the rural population, the urban poor, and the systemically unemployed and underemployed were not adequately addressed. Moreover, some policies resulted in an increase in poverty amongst rural and urban populations, such as the quota 90 revaluation, which saw Mussolini increase the value of the lira with respect to the pound. This, however, caused credit restrictions, the devaluation of wages, and impacted remittances, overall exacerbating poverty levels and affecting various sections of the population, both across rural-urban and the north–south divide.{{Cite book |last=Neville |first=Peter |title=Mussolini |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=0-415-24989-9 |publication-date=2003 |pages=77 |language=en}}

Throughout the 1890s, Italy had suffered from a famine, and there was a lack of news availability about the situation due to press censorship.{{Cite journal |last=Papa |first=Dario |date=1898 |title=Hunger and Poverty in Italy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25119041 |journal=The North American Review |volume=167 |issue=500 |pages=126–128 |jstor=25119041 |issn=0029-2397}} Around this time, 88% of convicts belonged to the poorer classes, whereas a mere 12% belonged to the richer classes.{{Cite journal |last=Henderson |first=C. R. |date=1897 |title=Review of Problèmes Sociaux Contemporains. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2761710 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=116 |jstor=2761710 |issn=0002-9602}}

During the 1950s, the high poverty rate in Italy was considered to be contributing to the Italian Communist Party,{{Cite news |last=Times |first=George Dugan Special To the New York |date=1951-10-20 |title=POVERTY IN ITALY HELD 'FRIGHTENING; Aid Money Must 'Seep Down' to People or Reds Will Triumph, Catholic Group Hears |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/10/20/archives/poverty-in-italy-held-frightening-aid-money-must-seep-down-to.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0362-4331}} although Wilfred Beckerman, Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford wrote that the poverty levels in Italy during the 1970s were below average in comparison to its European counterparts.{{Cite book |last=Beckerman |first=Wilfred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=De1ZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Poverty+in+Italy%22+-wikipedia |title=Estimates of Poverty in Italy in 1975 |date=1978 |publisher=International Labour Office |language=en}}

Child poverty in 2008 increased, despite demographic indications it would decrease.{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Wen-Hao |last2=Corak |first2=Miles |date=2008 |title=Child Poverty and Changes in Child Poverty |journal=Demography |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=537–553 |doi=10.1353/dem.0.0024 |jstor=25475989 |pmid=18939660 |issn=0070-3370|pmc=2831388 }}

Poverty in Italy is generally caused by low income and precarious employment situations, rather than lack of a support network.{{Citation |last=Violante |first=Alberto |title=When it rains, it pours: Urban poverty in a metropolitan suburb during the crisis period |date=2015 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wxsbr.10 |work=City of Crisis |pages=126 |editor-last=Eckardt |editor-first=Frank |access-date=2023-12-04 |series=The Multiple Contestation of Southern European Cities |publisher=Transcript Verlag |jstor=j.ctv1wxsbr.10 |isbn=978-3-8376-2842-5 |editor2-last=Sánchez |editor2-first=Javier Ruiz}} Certain aspects of Italy's poverty patterns trace their origins to the period of Italian unification in the latter half of the 19th century, significantly influencing pre-existing regional economic disparities, notably the north–south divide.{{Cite journal |last1=Amendola |first1=Alessandra |last2=Restaino |first2=Marialuisa |last3=Sensini |first3=Luca |title=Variable Selection in Forecasting Models Corporate Bankruptcy. |url=https://www.risk.net/journal-of-risk-model-validation/2161267/variable-selection-in-default-risk-models |journal=Journal of Risk Model Validation |date=17 March 2011 |pages=}} These traits were further solidified by the choices made during the post-Second World War reconstruction and the transformative "boom years" of the early 1960s, which witnessed Italy's shift from primarily rural to predominantly urban and industrialised societal structures.

In Italy's capital, Rome, about 8,000 were homeless as of 2021. Deaths increased during the coronavirus pandemic, as many shelters turned people away.{{Cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |date=2021-02-01 |title=Deaths among Rome's rough sleepers surge as shelters turn many away due to Covid |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/rome-covid-rough-sleeper-deaths-italy |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0261-3077}} Many were also not able to follow lockdown orders, and charities struggled to respond to the crisis,{{Cite news |last=Povoledo |first=Elisabetta |date=2020-03-24 |title=Rome's Homeless Don't Have the Luxury of Staying Home |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-homeless.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0362-4331}} fueling an increase in poverty.{{Cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |date=2020-06-29 |title='They are the new poor': Covid-19 fuels rising poverty in Italy |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/29/they-are-new-poor-covid-19-fuels-rising-poverty-italy |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0261-3077}} During the 2023 European heatwaves, the Italian Red Cross initiated an operation to assist the homeless who were affected by the hot conditions.{{Cite news |date=2023-07-22 |title=Italy's homeless struggle in ongoing heatwave |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-22/rome-homeless-during-heatwave/102635838 |access-date=2023-12-04}}

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Italy

Category:Economy of Italy

Italy