The real disposable incomes of Italian families fell in 2023, widening the gap with respect to the EU average, according to data on Eurostat’s ‘Social Scoreboard‘.
With 2008 levels setting a benchmark of 100, Eurostat said Italian real incomes dropped from 94.15 in 2022 to 93.74 last year. Italy’s highest score was in 2021when it reached a score of 95.66.
The average for the EU, on the other hand, went up from 110.12 to 110.82; higher than its previous highest point in 2021 of 110.44.
Italian households struggle to make ends meet
However, Italy has a better record where the Housing Cost Overburden score is concerned. This statistic looks at the percentage of the population living in a household where total housing costs represent more than 40% of the total disposal household income. Here, Italy bucks the trend with a score of 5.7% in 2023, decreasing from 6.6% in 2022. This is compared to the EU average of 8.9%, which was an increase from 8.7% in 2022.
Early School Leavers
Italy’s percentage of early school leavers dropped in 2023 to 10.5% from 10.7% in 2022. It is still above the EU average of 9.5%
Early leaver from education and training, previously named early school leaver, refers to a person aged 18 to 24 who has completed at most lower secondary education and is not involved in further education or training; the indicator ‘early leavers from education and training’ is expressed as a percentage of the people aged 18 to 24 with such criteria out of the total population aged 18 to 24.
Young people not in employment, training or education
Looking at the percentage of the population aged 15-29, roughly 1 in 6 (16.1%) are out of work or not in some form of education and training (NEET). This compares poorly to the EU average of just over 1 in 10 (11.2%)
The number increases, both for Italy and the EU average, when that comes to women. In Italy, 17.8% of young women are NEET (EU – 12.5%), compared to 14.4% of men (EU – 10.1%).
Gender employment gap
Following on from the NEET gender differences, we can see a large gender gap in play. The EU average for 2023 was 10.22 percentage points, compared to 19.5 percentage points for Italians.
This shows a decrease from 2022 for Italians, when the gap stood at 19.7 percentage points. However, this is still up on 2021 when the gap stood at 19.2 percentage points.
This indicator is defined as the difference between the employment rates of men and women aged 20-64 years. The employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of persons aged 20 to 64 in employment by the total population of the same age group.
Digital skills for Italians woefully short of EU average
This measurement has only been in place since 2021, and measures people (aged 16-74) who basic of above basic overall digital skills. The Italian score for 2023 is 45.8% compared to an EU average of 55.6%.
Italy’s score has barely shifted from the 2021 measurement of 45.6%, whilst the EU average has increased from 53.9% to 55.6%.
Employment and unemployment rates
Italy’s employment rate has been steadily increasing since 2013, bar the anomaly of the pandemic year. In 2023, employment stood at 66.3% though this is short of the EU average of 75.3%.
The gender differential is at play here with 56.5% of women employed (EU average – 70.2%), compared to 76% of men (EU average – 80.4%).
This statistic is based on people aged between 20 and 64.
As you would expect, the unemployment rate is down for both the EU as a whole and Italy. For Italy the rate is 7.7% compared to the EU average of 6.1%.
The long-term unemployment rate is also down from 4.6% in 2022 to 4.2% in 2023. This is still over 2% above the EU average which fell from 2.4% to 2.1% over the same period.
At-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion (AROPE)
Italy has shown a marked improvement in this measurement over the last two years. In 2021, the percentage of the population facing AROPE was 25.2%, decreasing to 24.4% in 2022 to the 2023 score of 22.8%.
This is only marginally (1.4 percentage points) above the EU average of 21.4% in 2023. In 2021, the gap was considerably wider at 3.5 percentage points.
