The challenge of making Italy attractive to young people

This is not the umpteenth youth policy, nor is it a baby bonus that claims to solve the issue of denatality and demographic glaciation, global issues so complex that they require a Copernican cultural revolution.

A change of pace is needed to attract young people: less selfishness, more merit, more transparency and greater inclusion. With an organic approach both in the areas in which to act and in the actors to be involved, who make up the country's entire ruling class. We can leverage greater appreciation of what we have inherited from the past, the distinctive heritage - economic, cultural and environmental - that too often we do not make full use of and above all rarely recognise its importance, except in words.

Our history shows that Italy knows how to generate value above all when it invests in its human capital. It happened during the Renaissance and it happened with 'Made in Italy', when we were able to tell the world about our creativity and our 'know-how'. Today we must return to investing in people - and in particular in young people - putting them at the centre of a new season of growth.

The Cnel - an advisory body to the Houses of Parliament and the Government, as provided for in Article 99 of the Constitution - has placed the new generations at the centre of the Programme of the eleventh term through a real 'Youth Strategy', an organic scheme that I would like to summarise in three words: 'new generational pact' to enhance the contribution of young people to the development and welfare of the country.

Some of the milestones in our journey have been listening directly to young people, the Forum of youth economic and social forces, and the introduction of the Generational Impact Assessment system (Vig) for acts and bills approved by the Cnel Assembly. This is a choice with a strong institutional value, which I hope can soon be extended to all the different decision-making levels in the country, thanks to a transparent mechanism - a traffic light, for example - that would make the generational effects of the choices made immediately understandable, preventing the long-term consequences from being overlooked. This would represent a decisive milestone for a country that really thinks about its future.

As an economist - by nature an optimist -, I am convinced that to look at young people in this spirit is to read change as an opportunity. The demographic glaciation in Italy has reduced - and will reduce -, as in many other countries, the number of young people. From 15.2 million in the mid-1990s we are down to 10.4 million in 2024, despite the arrival of almost two million young people from low-income countries. Without new entries, there will be about 8.8 million in 2040.

Making the challenge more complex is the fact that many young Italians choose to leave the country. Between 2011 and 2024 - the time horizon analysed in the Cnel Report - 441,000 left, while many fewer arrived from other advanced countries. The new wave of emigration, which began in 2011 in the midst of the sovereign debt crisis, has progressively acquired greater consistency. In the same way, the share of university graduates, the jewel in the crown of our human capital, has increased among young expatriates.

It is well known that this phenomenon affects all mature economies and, therefore, the international competition to attract them will be increasingly complex. We know that the choice of young people to leave does not depend on a single factor, because attractiveness is a mosaic made up of many pieces. The poor attractiveness for young people in advanced countries is the litmus test of those delays that Italy has progressively accumulated over decades.

The Cnel Report, designed to analyse the migration flows of young people aged 18-34 between Italy and other advanced countries, identifies a number of levers to rebalance the current asymmetry to Italy's disadvantage: more competitive salaries and career prospects; sustainable cost of living, including housing; greater investment in innovation and research; a new culture of work and meritocracy; raising the quality of life; simplification of the public administration and incentives aimed at re-entry.

These are areas that require not only resources, but above all the ability to coordinate, collaborate and share objectives. In fact, the response can only be holistic and integrated, involving the country's entire ruling class, public and private, starting with central and local governments, universities, businesses and trade unions.

And what better place to discuss and outline a common path than the Cnel, the home of intermediate bodies? The Cnel, in collaboration with the Minister for Sport and Youth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, is a candidate to be the venue to launch this initiative.

Because attractiveness is not a one-off goal to be achieved, but an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring, comparison and updating. The Cnel, by mission and mandate, has the ability to bring together different worlds, visions and sensibilities, transforming analyses and proposals into a shared project.

In our common path, we cannot forget some precious resources, real 'reservoirs' of potential growth that Italy can and must make the most of: young people - in particular the more than 1.3 million young people Not in education, employment or training (Neet) between the ages of 15 and 29, according to OECD data -, women and the 'women-young people' union in the South.

These reservoirs are the lever of our country's structural and value modernisation, in order to reach our goal of 27-28 million employed by the end of the decade, with the activity and employment rates of the most advanced and virtuous Europe.

The gender gap in the labour market still exceeds 17 percentage points and the female inactivity rate remains among the highest in Europe. According to the OECD, closing the gap - especially among the younger generations - could guarantee Italy the highest increase in GDP per capita among all European countries.

According to Svimez data, between 2021 and 2024 the Mezzogiorno has recorded a GDP growth of 8.5%, exceeding the national average and the Centre-North (+5.8%). The push of the NRP - now at its 'last mile' -, the new geo-economic dynamics, the potential of the ZES as a structural booster and the energy sector offer a precious opportunity. In order to seize it, and to grow structurally, decisive action is required: attracting and retaining qualified skills, strengthening human capital and investing in tangible - think of the bridge over the Strait of Messina - and intangible infrastructure. 'A South set on a virtuous path of growth is good for Italy and good for Europe'.

This is the real booster for an Italy that is no longer the 'tail-end': more growth, more productivity, more valorised human capital, more merit and higher wages, all thanks to overcoming the delays that keep Italy attractive. An Italy that enhances human capital from only regular and qualified immigration, capable of participating as a resource in the Country Project. From this comes more democracy, more industrial democracy and a stronger civil society.

This is the sequence to overcome our historical backwardness. It is a challenge we can win: putting young people at the centre. It benefits everyone.

President of Cnel