First Covid, now the expensive bills, the strong general rise in prices and fuels are putting a strain on the economic resilience of Italian families, especially those who find themselves in a condition of energy poverty.
According to the elaboration of the CGIA Studies Office on the data of the OIPE 20201 Report, it is estimated that in Italy there are 4 million nuclei in difficulty. Families who find it impossible to procure a minimum basket of energy goods and services: i.e. heating, cooling, lighting, use of household appliances, etc.
Given the scarce economic availability, these nuclei are often forced to choose: either they combine lunch with dinner or pay the bills.
The families most at risk are those with a high number of members, live in dated houses in a poor state of conservation, the head of the family is young, often destitute and / or immigrant.
At the territorial level, the most critical situation occurs in the South, where the frequency of energy poverty fluctuates between 24 and 36 percent of families in that area. In Campania, for example, the range goes from at least 519 thousand nuclei in difficulty to almost 779 thousand, in Sicily from just over 481 thousand to 722 thousand and in Calabria from just over 191 thousand up to almost 287 thousand units.
Equally critical is the situation in other regions of Central South which record a medium-high frequency of energy poverty: between 14 and 24 per cent. In this band we note Puglia, with a number of families ranging between 223 and 383, and Sardinia, with a range that varies from almost 102 to just over 174.
Among the regions that, on the other hand, are in the medium-low range (between 10 and 14 percent of frequency), we can see Lazio, Piedmont, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Valle d'Aosta. Finally, among the realities less affected by this phenomenon, where the fork fluctuates between 6 and 10 percent, we note Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Trentino Alto Adige (see Tab. 1) .
Obviously, to improve the condition of these families, poverty, school dropout and social exclusion must be effectively combated. Not only that, but also intervening to help those who find themselves out of work, creating opportunities to increase, in particular, good employment. Likewise, as other European countries have already done, it is no longer possible to postpone, at least temporarily, the introduction of a ceiling on the increase in price increases.
We point out that according to the latest Istat data referring to 2019, in Italy the poverty risk of families where the main income is attributable to a self-employed worker was 25,1 percent, against 20 percent attributable to families who presented the main source of employment income.
If from the advent of Covid until January of this year the number of employed among self-employed workers fell by 185 thousand units, among employees the contraction was equal to 79 thousand. We can therefore say with good approximation that, also with regard to energy poverty, in the last 2 years the households where the head of the family is self-employed, the situation has worsened to a greater extent than among the family realities of employees.
Now, however, all families must be financially supported, especially those most in difficulty: we remind you that the government has introduced the bill bonus, significantly cutting the weight of electricity and gas costs for people with an ISEE of less than 8.265 euros. Threshold, the latter, which was raised to 12 thousand euros with the anti-price increase decree of 21 March last.
Still on the electricity and gas bills front, households were given the opportunity to pay them in installments, system charges were zeroed and VAT dropped to 5 percent. Since last summer, the Draghi government has made nearly 20 billion euros available to families and businesses against expensive energy / fuel. Certainly an important figure, but still insufficient to effectively mitigate the price increases that have occurred in the last 9 months.