Thirteenth lighter ones are coming: due to covid, 3 billion lost compared to last year
In the coming days, the vast majority of retirees will receive it on their current account. Within a few weeks it will then also be disbursed to private and public employees. We are talking about the thirteenth month that this year will arrive in the portfolios of 16 million retirees and 18 million employees. The total amount of these 34 million Christmas bonuses will amount to 30 billion euros, 3 billion less than the sum paid last year. To say it is the CGIA Studies Office. The coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Studies Office states:
"Unfortunately, Covid has relieved the thirteenth of many employees in the private sector. In fact, since the beginning of the emergency, at least 6,6 million workers have ended up in layoffs and many of these at zero hours. This situation did not allow many people to accrue the monthly accrual that economically defines the bonus, thus lightening the final amount of about 100 euros for each month of indemnity received. With less money available and so much mistrust that haunts Italian families, Christmas purchases are likely to suffer a contraction of up to 15 percent. If last year the total expenditure touched 10 billion euros, this year it could fall to 8,5-9 billion, a reduction that risks penalizing above all the artisan shops and neighborhood shops that struggle to keep up with the competition. more ruthless than online commerce ".
If around 30 billion euros will reach Italians through the thirteenth this year, even the tax authorities will be able to "celebrate", as these payments will collect 10,4 billion euros in personal income taxes.
• We are now in deflation
“With the increase in private savings and the vertical fall in household consumption - reports Secretary Renato Mason - the country is slipping dangerously towards deflation. In fact, since last May, the consumer price index has been negative. Deflation, we recall, manifests itself through a progressive decline in the prices of goods and services. On the surface, this may seem positive: if prices go down, consumers make money. In reality, things take on a completely different dimension: despite the fact that prices are falling, families do not buy, due to lower financial resources and negative expectations, what little that is sold means, for shopkeepers, increasingly limited profit margins. . Unsold merchandise triggers a difficult situation for traders, but also for manufacturing companies which, in the face of lost sales, are forced to reduce production and, in the future, employment as well ”.
• Lombardy, Lazio and Veneto the regions most affected
At a territorial level, the region with the highest number of recipients of the thirteenth month is Lombardy: the people concerned are almost 6,2 million. Followed by 3 million and 287 thousand residents in Lazio, 2 million 956 thousand domiciled in Veneto and 2 million 821 thousand in Emilia Romagna. The geographical realities, where, on the other hand, the number of beneficiaries of the Christmas bonus is more contained are Umbria with 532 thousand people, Basilicata with 290 thousand, Molise with 160 thousand and Valle d'Aosta with 77 thousand.
• When the thirteenth is paid
Retirees, together with the December treatment, will receive the thirteenth next Tuesday (December 1). From this year, due to Covid, for some subjects the additional monthly payment is paid in advance. For retirees who do not receive credit on their current account, for example, the Christmas bonus was paid starting last Wednesday (November 25). This method was decided by INPS and Poste Italiane in order to allow all service holders to go to post offices in complete safety, in compliance with the measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. To employees in the private sector, the payment of the additional monthly salary is established by the CCNL: traditionally it is however paid by the owner of the company by Christmas. Finally, for public employees, the thirteenth is processed with the pay slip of the last month of the year; usually both payments are paid around December 20th.