How many children in Italy live in disadvantaged conditions?

In Italy more than one in 4 minors lives in disadvantaged conditions (26.7%), of which almost half live in South or in Islands (43.6%). And if they live in a single-income family, the risk of poverty or social exclusion is about three times higher than that of families with more than one income.

With these figures, Italy shows worse percentages than the European average, although recording some improvements in recent years.

Who are the most disadvantaged children in Italy?

According to the most recent ISTAT data, in 2024 more than 2 million Italian children and young people under the age of 16 live in families a risk of poverty or social exclusion.

The geographical distribution shows a wide gap: al South and in Islands the risk rises to 43.6% of minors. In the North the share, although significant, is much lower, around 14.3%, and in Center is al 26.2%. Part of this gap can be explained by the fact that in the South, social services, schools, transport and cultural offerings are often less widespread and living in a place with few opportunities strengthens inequalities. Childcare services (such as nursery schools, after-school activities, canteens and school transport) can in fact lighten the burden on families and improve equity. Furthermore, food insecurity also shows significant differences between the North (3.1%), the Center (2.1%) and the South (8.9%).

Also nationality matters. If among Italian minors the risk is 23.5%, among foreign minors it rises by over 20 percentage points. This gap is further aggravated in the South: here foreigners reach a risk of 78.2% while Italians 40.9%. This means that many Italian children, particularly in the most disadvantaged regions, live in precarious conditions. However, these data also tell us that in the South, when a minor is a foreigner, the risk is very high. In fact, foreign minors often not only live in families with lower incomes, but face additional obstacles such as language barriers, difficulties in accessing services, worse housing conditions. For this reason, it is crucial to ensure that foreign children have full access to all services, offer linguistic support and guarantee their rights.

The parents’ educational qualifications it’s another key factorbecause it is closely associated with the socio-economic standard of the family. If the parents have at most a middle school diploma, the risk of poverty/social exclusion for their children is higher than 50%, while if at least one parent And graduate drops dramatically to 10.3%. In fact, less education often means fewer opportunities and less ability to mediate with difficulties but also to access services, supports and networks. And currently there is still little concrete support for families with low educational qualifications, such as remedial programs, mentoring, free or low-cost extracurricular activities.

But also the family composition has a huge impact: how many brothers and sisters there are, how many people in the house, whether the minor lives with one or two parents. For example, if the child lives with both parents and no siblings, the risk is 18.1%. If he has at least one sibling, it rises to 26.2%. If you live in a single-parent family: without siblings, the risk is around 38.3%, while with at least one sibling it rises to over 50%.

What does it mean to live in severe poverty?

To objectively measure the risk of poverty or social exclusion, Istat uses an indicator that estimates the percentage of minors living in families that fall into at least one of the following scenarios:

• I am at risk of povertythat is, they have an equivalent net income lower than the poverty threshold (in 2024, the threshold calculated on 2023 incomes is equal to 1,015 euros per month for a family of one adult member). In fact, the data tell us that living in a single-income family triples the risk of poverty or social exclusion and growing up in a family with financial difficulties doubles the child’s risk of poverty even in adulthood.
• They have one low work intensitythat is, who work less than 3 months in a year. When adults at home have little job stability, high periods of unemployment, or involuntarily part-time (or underpaid) work, both disposable income and perceived well-being are directly affected.
• I’m in good condition severe material and social deprivation.

In particular, a family is considered to be in conditions of severe material deprivation and social when at least seven signs of material and social deprivation are recorded on this list of 13:

1. not being able to bear unexpected expenses
2. not being able to afford a week’s holiday a year away from home;
3. being in arrears on bills, rent, mortgage or other loans;
4. not being able to afford an adequate meal at least once every two days, i.e. with proteins from meat, fish or equivalent vegetarian;
5. not being able to adequately heat the home;
6. not being able to afford a car;
7. not being able to replace damaged or out-of-use furniture with others in good condition
8. not being able to afford a usable internet connection at home;
9. not being able to replace worn clothes with new items of clothing;
10. not being able to afford two pairs of shoes in good condition every day;
11. not being able to afford to spend a small sum of money on personal needs almost every week;
12. not being able to afford to regularly carry out paid leisure activities outside the home;
13. not being able to afford to meet family and/or friends to drink or eat together at least once a month.

The most widespread sign of deprivation in the Bel Paese is living in a family that cannot afford, for economic reasons, to replace damaged furniture with others in good condition. They follow the not being able to afford to spend at least one week’s holiday a year away from home and to regularly carry out paid leisure activities outside the home. The latter is the figure that has seen the greatest deterioration in recent years, while the percentage of children and young people with access to a usable internet connection at home is improving. Among the less frequent signs of deprivation among families are the possession of a car and at least two pairs of shoes in good condition.

Compared to 2021 (the year in which a similar study was carried out on the condition of minors), in 2024 the share of Italian children at risk of poverty o social exclusion has decreased slightly (especially in the North) but the share of foreign children at risk has doubled. In fact, both the risk of poverty (22.8% in 2024 vs 25.6% in 2021) and low work intensity (6.7% vs 7.6%), which reflects the general positive trend of the labor market, have decreased. On the other hand, the indicator of serious material and social deprivation tells us that 6.1% of minors (5.3% in 2021) show at least seven signs of deprivation out of the thirteen considered.

In short, growing up in Italy is not a guarantee of opportunities and still depends too much on where you are born, what family, what cultural and economic resources you have.