Employment is growing and the risk of poverty is decreasing, but Italy still lags behind the EU average: in 2023, the country had a record increase in the number of employed people with 1.5 points more (second only to Malta, more than double the EU average) but remains at the bottom of the ranking with just 66.3% of people aged 20-64 working. Over the same period, the risk of poverty has decreased, which at 18.9% is at its lowest level since 2010. Positive comments are coming from the government. Indeed, the road to reducing economic and social hardship seems to have begun but the path remains long. The gap with the average European employment rate is still nine points at the national level but rises when looking at women and especially territories with the South even further behind. However, 2023, the year that saw a squeeze on citizenship income, saw a reduction in the risk of monetary poverty (i.e., the population with an income below 60%) by 1.2 points. The monetary poverty risk rate after social transfers fell to 18.9% of the population (16.2% in the EU) or 11.12 million people, a reduction of 676,000 people in 2022.
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