Real household income continues to fall, but employment is rising. This is the picture from Eurostat data that captures the differences between our country and the rest of the European Union. In 2023, real gross disposable household income is falling mainly due to high price growth and is more than six percentage points below the level recorded in 2008. This price increase, driven by the rise in the price of energy goods, is affecting lower-income households. The so-called “inflation tax” actually affects less well-off households more because they spend more on certain categories of goods and services whose prices have increased more, such as food consumption.
However, Eurostat’s “social dashboard” also says something else: Italy’s results are indeed improving in the area of employment and unemployment, and in the poverty of those in work, which has fallen below 10% for the first time since 2010. Income has fallen, but Italy’s indicators in terms of employment and education have increased. In particular, the employment rate among those aged 20 to 64 stands out. In our country, in fact, it will rise from 64.8% in 2022 to 66.3% in 2023, with an increase of 1.5 points. On average, in the Union, growth is only 0.7 points, rising from 74.6% to 75.3%. Instead, unemployment fell by 0.4 percentage points (from 8.1% to 7.7%), a trend that will continue in 2024. Here too, Italy is clearly on the rise compared to the European Union, where there is an average reduction of 0.1 points (from 6.2% to 6.1%).
The situation is also improving for the NEETs – young people not in education or training and not in employment – which fell from 19% to 16.1%. This is the lowest figure since the beginning of the historical series in 2009. As reconstructed from the data analysis carried out by Il Corriere della Sera, the figures are also falling for long-term unemployment, which fell from 4.6% to 4.2%; this is also the lowest figure since 2009, although still higher than the EU average (2.1%). Indicators relating to the risk of poverty among workers are also falling. The figure is 9.9%, a clear decrease compared to the 11.5% recorded in 2022. The percentage of those leaving school early falls from 11.5% to 10.5% (from 9.7% to 9.5% in the EU on average). Finally, the graduate rate is also growing – from 27.4% to 29.2% in 2023 of people between 30 and 34 years old.
Source: IL Tempo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
