The ANNOTICO Report
While all of Europe is struggling, the economic downturn
seems to have hit
the Italians particularly hard!!
Stuff
Australia
26 July 2005
ROME: Seventy per cent of Italians feel they don't earn
enough to afford a
"decent" standard of living, a study released on Monday
found - the latest
indication that the population is feeling the pinch of
a struggling
economy.
The proportion of people who are "subjectively poor" -
those who say they
can buy necessities but no luxuries - has rocketed from
just 50 per cent
two years ago, said ISAE, the government-funded economic
think-tank which
conducted the survey.
"Subjective poverty has increased consistently since the
survey began (in
2000), first slowly and then picking up speed. In the
last year there has
been a very rapid increase," said ISAE, which questioned
24,000 families on
their spending power.
The "subjective poverty" measure reflects how Italians
feel their incomes
measure up to their aspirations, and the massive rise
indicates a
widespread feeling that buying power has decreased in
the last two years.
The survey adds to a steady flow of gloomy economic data
and comes as
politicians gear up for a general election to be held
by next May where the
economy will be the overriding issue.
ISAE found the "subjective poverty level" - the minimum
monthly income
required for a "decent living standard" - was 1,250 euros
($NZ2225) for a
single person, 2,600 euros for a large family.
The proportion of "subjectively poor" is about 10 times
higher than those
under the absolute poverty level, ISAE said. Around 6.8
per cent of
households earn less than they need to live on.
AdvertisementAdvertisementItaly slipped into recession
in the first quarter
of the year - gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.5
per cent after 0.4
per cent in the previous three months. Consumer confidence
- also measured
by ISAE - hit a 13-month low in July.
Many Italians complain that consumer prices shot up when
euro notes and
coins replaced the lira in 2002 and complain that pay
increases since then
have not kept up with inflation in the euro zone's third-biggest
economy.
One of Italy's simplest small luxuries is eating out at
the local pizzeria
or trattoria, but that is becoming more of a rarity as
Italians watch their
pennies, restaurant owners said.
Sixty per cent of restaurants reported a drop in income
in the first four
months of 2005, trade body FIPE said in a recent survey,
while almost 80
per cent said they thought the cost of ingredients had
increased.
"Certainly the (economic) crisis is making itself felt,"
FIPE head Edi
Sommariva told newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"People are less interested in having a good time, they
are enjoying
themselves less. We are losing our sense of conviviality."