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.
The group that showed the biggest change in terms of
exposure to absolute poverty has been "the growing vulnerability
of minors".
At the same time, Istat said the condition of poverty among
the elderly has improved.
However, elderly women are at a disadvantage as they depend
on pensions that amount to less on average, and they more often
live with children who have difficulty reaching economic
independence.
City governments in 2013 spent 6.8 billion euros on welfare
programmes, representing a 4% decrease on 2010, when welfare
spending hit its peak at about 7.1 billion euros, Istat said.
In Italy, 84% of welfare recipients are elderly, and Istat
said the country's welfare system "is aimed only in part at
combating poverty and doesn't cater exclusively to individuals
in difficult economic circumstances".
"The system is less able to support couples with minor
children or large families with at least five members," Istat
said, adding that 16.4% of those in absolute poverty are
families with five or more members.
Figures on absolute poverty don't take into account those
without a stable residence, which in 2014 totaled 50,724 people
according to an Istat survey conducted in 158 Italian cities and
towns, an increase of 3,076 people on 2011.
During the hearing, Istat said the anti-poverty bill is
justified, but that "it's important it be formulated to provide
for a greater availability of resources and a consistent system
with a framework of social supports and active labour policies".
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