Council of Europe sounds the alarm: “One in seven children in Italy lives in absolute poverty”

Brussels – Child poverty is a crisis in Italy that affects the South, outlying areas, and the most disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods in particular, with single-parent families and large families being especially hard hit. This is the finding of a memorandum published today (23 July) by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, drawn up following his visit to the country in January to assess the situation regarding child poverty and the protection of human rights.

 After four days of meetings and site visits, O’Flaherty concluded that “children are now the most poverty-stricken age group.” According to the memorandum, 13.8 per cent of children – roughly one in seven – live in absolute poverty. This figure has risen in recent years, driven by unadjusted salaries and the mounting cost of living, which has disproportionately affected families. To reverse this trend, the Commissioner calls on Italy to adopt “structural reforms”, accompanied by “coordinated action and sustained funding”, to guarantee children’s rights fully.

At the national level, Italy has adopted a set of measures to tackle poverty, combining income support, social services, and strategic plans. Among the main instruments are the Single and Universal Allowance (AUU), aimed at families with children and calculated based on the ISEE, and the Inclusion Allowance (ADI), which has replaced the Citizenship Income and is aimed at the most vulnerable households with children, older people or people with disabilities. These measures are complemented by the National Plan for Inclusion and the Fight against Poverty and the strengthening of the minimum levels of provision (LEP) in social services, with investments to increase the number of social workers, psychologists, and educators across the country.

 According to the Commissioner, however, these measures are not sufficient. Child poverty, the memorandum notes, affects every aspect of children’s lives, limiting their access to healthcare, education, adequate nutrition, decent housing, and social relationships. “Efforts should be coherently designed” to assist families and children living in poverty, with particular attention to the most vulnerable situations. “Safeguards should be introduced to ensure that children and households living in poverty are not excluded from relevant allowances and services as a result of residency or citizenship requirements, technological or bureaucratic barriers,” O’Flaherty stressed. 

Among the recommendations to Italy, the Commissioner calls on the authorities to adopt a single national strategy against child poverty based on human rights, to define and fund minimum levels of public social services (LEP) to reduce regional disparities, and to ensure adequate income support allowances, without excluding those in difficulty based on their household composition. He also calls for better coordination of social services, the removal of barriers to access to housing, food, and care, and stable funding to ensure the continuity of these measures even after the expiration of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) funds.