Saturday, November 18, 2017

Italy's Poverty

The total number of the Italian young people between 18 and 34 years of age live at the threshold of poverty and social exclusion, according to the result of a study presented today in this capital by the Catholic help organization Caritas.

'Previous Future' is the title of the report that shows that 10.4 percent of the young people in this country are in a state of abject poverty, compared to the 1.9 percent recorded ten years ago.

The text reads that even more alarming is the situation of 12.5 percent of the minors, which are affected by abject poverty, 1.6 percent more than in 2015, the equivalent to 1,292,000 children. However, that rate decreased from 4.8 to 3.9 percent among people over 65 years of age.

Catholic charity Caritas Italiana  raised the alarm about poverty among young people in Italy. In a new report, it said poverty in Italy tends to increase the younger people are, with children worst off than their parents and grandchildren poorer than their grandparents. The charity, which provides meals and shelters for the homeless, among other things, said many breadwinners under 34 are poor, Italy has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe and record numbers young are NEETS - people who are not in employment, education or training. 

 Monsignor Nunzio Galantino, secretary-general of the Italian Episcopal Conference, warned against assuming that poverty was limited to immigrants, urging Italian society to open its eyes to “extraordinary and extraordinarily negative poverty... a poverty not just of material means, but the even greater poverty of not being able to plan your own future and create your own alternatives to a life of dependence”.

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