A new study by ISTAT, titled “Well-being and Inequalities in Italy” and released on Monday as part of the BES project on fair and sustainable well-being, reveals that living conditions in northern Italy continue to surpass those in the South.
Although the gender gap in social and economic well-being persists, regional inequalities are gradually narrowing.
According to ISTAT, “the northern regions frequently present well-being indicators above the national average, while the South still shows significant disadvantages in terms of employment and social connections.” Key indicators in the Well-being and Inequalities in Italy study covered areas like service quality, work-life balance, education, economic well-being, and social engagement.
The report highlighted stark contrasts in cultural participation, noting that university-educated women in the North are eight times more likely to engage in activities like going to the cinema or theatre than high school-educated women in the South.
Education emerged as a strong protective factor against economic hardship. Nationally, the risk of poverty impacts 17.7% of those aged 25 and over, yet this drops to 6.9% for university graduates and rises to over 25% for those with only a middle school diploma. Poverty risk varies significantly by region: in the North, it’s under 10% (3.6% among graduates), while in the South, it climbs to 30.8% (40.7% for individuals with low education). Women with low education levels in the South face the highest poverty risk, reaching 42.7%.
The educational divide also amplifies a digital gap, with regular Internet usage common among the highly educated (94.4%) and high school graduates (87.6%) but limited to 53.3% among those with low education. This disadvantage is especially pronounced among less-educated individuals over 55, particularly those in the South, where just 33.6% use the Internet regularly.
