Thursday, December 21, 2006

Italians Cite STRESS at Work and Low PAY as Top Worries

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Two separate articles point out the foremost concerns of Italians.

(1) job stress

(2) low pay

 

 

Poll: Most Italians say Stress a Problem, Cite their Jobs as a Top Cause


The International Tribune

The Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006  

Most Italians complain of stress in their daily lives, according to AP-Ipsos polling, and they are most likely to point to their jobs.

Whatever the definition, stress is felt by most people in Italy, as in most of the other eight industrial democracies polled.

Among those polled, one-third of Italians said work was the most important source of stress, while 20 percent pointed to health concerns and another 19 percent blamed their finances.

"The nervousness of other people bothers me. Stress causes stress," said Susana Rizzato, a 50-year-old clerk at a shop in downtown Rome. "People are not at all calm and they are always on their mobile phone, you're about to close a sale and their phone rings. These are little things, but they sum up over the day and weigh you down."

Stress on the job cuts across the Italian work force, targeting different groups for different reasons, said Giovanni Maria Pirone, head of the Italian Institute of Social Medicine, a government-sponsored research center that studies social and work-related health problems.

In the case of factory workers it is the repetitiveness of the job that is to blame, while for stressed-out managers, "an exasperated competitiveness" is the root of the problem, he noted.

However prevalent stress may be in daily life, few people in Italy seek out professional help for stress-related problems, said neuropsychiatrist Giovanni D'attoma. Psychiatry is still stigmatized and considered an option to be reserved for serious mental disorders, said D'attoma, who runs a neuropsychiatric center in southern Italy.

"We do not realize the need for a solution, we don't go easily to a psychiatrist, and some think it's enough to go to the gym," she said.

The poll found that stress does not seem to be associated with the issue of personal control.

Only one-third of those polled said they frequently or sometimes felt life was beyond their control, while two-thirds said they rarely or never felt that this was a problem. About 13 percent of those polled pointed to family life as a primary source of stress.

Another source of preoccupation is Italy's bureaucracy, notorious for its long lines and inefficiency.

"Every time you need something it takes ages," said Maria Roman, 50, who moved from Romania to Italy nine years ago and works as a baby sitter. "I have been requesting citizenship for two years, and now I have to hire a lawyer just to know what happened to my request."

The telephone poll of 961 people in Italy was taken November 17-22 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

REPORT ON ITALIANS' SAVINGS

 

Special service by AGI

On behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office

December 21, 2006

 

 

BNL-EINUADI (AGI) - Rome, Dec. 21 - nearly half of the Italians is not able to save money not because they are too prodigy [ Probably mean: too prolific in spending] but because they do not earn enough money. These problems are envisaged in the 24 report on saving made by Bnl and Einaudi centre. According to the survey made by Doxa 49 pct of Italians did not save money in 2005-2006. The people who did not save money were 51 pct in 2005. The research is worrying.

 

It confirms a trend of the recent years. )2 pct of the people who do not save money say saving is useful and are pessimist on the rise of their income. But how Italians spend the saved money? The survey says 29 pct of Italians save money to buy a house or to restore it. Other 47 save money to face unpredictable events. As regards the financial activities chosen to invest money the pension fund are still not very well known, 29 pct of investors have a life insurance (25 pct in 2005), 16 pct join to a sector pension fund and 8 pct joins to an open pension fund. 43.8 of interviewees say they are doing their pensions alone.

 

http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=

200612201907-1239-RT1-CRO-0-NF11

&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

 

 

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