dunemployment and precarious jobs, insufficient pensions and wages, skyrocketing prices of basic necessities and staggering bills: poverty in Italy is spreading, from the north to the south of the country, it affects young and old, single mothers and those who, lost his job, he despairs of finding it again. It is the dramatic picture photographed by Community of Sant’Egidio, which for over fifty years has assisted people living in poverty and on the margins: iL 10% of the Italian population (5.6 million individuals) is in absolute poverty and the 68% fear they won’t be able to pay their bills due to price increases. As many as 4.7 million people have already “skipped” the payment of at least one electricity and gas bill and another 3.3 million fear doing the same soon.
Poverty in Italy is absolute for 10% of Italians
The most alarming situation is that of single-income families, elderly people and people with precarious work, single mothers and the 36-50 age group. A sign of optimism comes from the Istat report on the redistribution of income in 2022: the interventions aimed at families have slightly reduced inequality (from 30.4% to 29.6%) and the risk of poverty (from 18.6% in 16.8%, but the risk is unchanged for families with no children or only with adult children).
Requests for help multiply, literally
How serious the situation is is demonstrated by the requests to the community itself. Sant’Egidio has distributed over 600,000 food parcels in Italy, three times more compared to a similar pre-2019 period. It has also opened new food distribution centers throughout Italy, in 30 cities from north to south: in Rome alone, the number of friendship houses has increased from three to 28, in Genoa from four to 10. Places to find help concrete but, also, listening, information, advice.
The meals served in the community canteens in Rome, Genoa, Novara, Frosinone and Lucca have been 500,000 since the beginning of the pandemic, double compared to pre-pandemic years. Added to these are the 650,000 meals distributed in traveling dinners in various Italian cities, from Padua to Catania, from Turin to Naples. In the smaller Municipalities, Sant’Egidio has instead reached out to people and families in need by other means.
“Add a seat at the table”, 40 years of lunches with the poor
The occasion of Christmas it is also particularly important for the Community: this year in fact marks the 40th anniversary of the first Christmas lunch with the poor. It was Christmas 1982 when, for the first time, 35 poor people were welcomed into the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Since then, the banquet has expanded: every year it involves around 80,000 people in Italy and 250,000 worldwide. To contribute to the solidarity initiative ‘Add a seat at the table’, you can send a text message or call 45586 from a landline, until 27 December.
Among the many small and large enterprises that the Community of Sant’Egidio carries out every day there is also the guide ‘Where to eat, sleep and wash’, the Michelin guide for those who live on the street. Now in its 33rd edition, it is a compendium for orientation in the world of solidarity, aimed at people who are homeless or in need of help, distributed free of charge to help them identify services in the area. Two hundred and eighty pages listing structures and centers to go to for assistance and hospitality, such as canteens, dormitories, food distribution services, counseling centres.
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