The data contained in the fourth UNICEF report on child labor in Italy also deserve particular attention for Sardinia. The analysis carried out by the ACLI Institute for Research and Development (Iares Sardegna) highlights that in 2025 , there will be 2,399 workers between the ages of 15 and 17 on the island .
According to the ACLI institute, the figure is decreasing compared to 2024, when there were 2,561, but the incidence compared to the population of the same age group remains higher than the national average .
According to the UNICEF report, 5.9 percent of Sardinian youth between the ages of 15 and 17 are employed , compared to the Italian average of 4.67 percent. The number of workers under 19 increased from 5,431 in 2020 to 11,502 in 2024, with Sardinia being the second fastest-growing region.
Sardinia has an early school dropout rate of 14.5%—almost double the national average of 9.8%—and a NEET rate (young people aged 15-29 who are not in employment, education, or training) of 17.8%, higher than the Italian average of 15.2%. This structural educational vulnerability leads to early and often precarious entry into the labor market , states Mauro Carta , regional president of ACLI Sardinia.
"We're not facing a situation that warrants alarmism, but the data indicates the need to better understand the characteristics of this phenomenon," says Vania Statzu, director of Iares Sardegna.
(Unioneonline/AD)
