Svimez: Young graduates in Italy earn a thousand euros less than the EU average

Young graduates in Italy – in the South as well as in the rest of the country – earn over 1,000 euros less per month than the European average. Five years after graduating, their net monthly salary stands at €1,748 in the South and €1,780 in the Centre-North, compared with the European average of €2,850. This is according to the Svimez report ‘The Economy and Society of Southern Italy’. Furthermore, having a job is not enough to protect people from poverty. In the South, 19.5 per cent of those in employment live in households at risk of poverty (6.8 per cent in the Centre-North): around 1.2 million working poor, more than half the national total. Furthermore, 23.3 per cent of employees in the South – over 1.1 million – earn less than 9 euros gross per hour (12.7 per cent in the Centre-North), with figures as high as 69 per cent in agriculture. And only 26.9 per cent of households in the South with at least one member of working age have at least two people in work (42.3 per cent in the Centre-North).