A total of 1.9 million people were helped by Italian Caritas in 2020, on average 286 for each of the 6,780 services managed in the country.
Almost half - 44 percent - referred to the Caritas network for the first time.
These are the data that emerged from the dossier "Beyond the obstacle", on poverty and social exclusion, according to which the regions with the highest incidence of "new poor" are Valle d'Aosta (61.1%) Campania (57, 0), Lazio (52.9), Sardinia (51.5%) and Trentino Alto Adige (50.8%). For young adults aged between 18 and 34, the new forms of poverty account for 57.7%.
The share of the chronic poor, those who have been dependent on the Caritas circuit for five or more years, is increasing: from 2019 to 2020 it goes from 25.6% to 27.5%. The average age is 46, since it remains unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic period.
More than half of the people (57.1%) have at most a lower secondary school certificate, a percentage that among Italians rises to 65.3% and reaches 77.6% in the South. 64.9% of the assisted declare having children (percentage which in absolute value corresponds to over 91 thousand people); among them almost a third live with minor children (equal to 29,903 people).
Furthermore, one in five people declares to receive the citizenship income but one poor out of 10 turns out to be the owner of his home, in short, having his own house does not exempt from a possible condition of economic hardship.
While the "homeless" met by Caritas were 22,527 (equal to 16.3% of the total), mostly men (69.4%), foreigners (64.3%), celibates (42.4%) , with an average age of 44 years and which are found mainly in the North.
(Unioneonline / ss)
