Italy goes back 15 years due to the pandemic: more than 1.3 million children live in absolute poverty

The crisis derived from the pandemic has caused more than 1.3 million children in Italy to find themselves in absolute poverty, which represents a setback to levels since 2005, according to a report published today by Save the Children. In Italy, 1,346,000 minors (13.6% of the total children and adolescents) live in conditions of absolute poverty, 209,000 more than the previous year, to which is added a “learning” loss due to the closure of schools , is indicated in the report, which mainly analyzes “educational and digital poverty” during the past year.

But in addition, the economic crisis, due to the repeated closure of productive activities aimed at countering the spread of the pandemic, is having dramatic effects on the lives of many parents and their children, since in the last year 345,000 fathers or mothers lost their jobs.. One of the consequences of family impoverishment is noticeable, above all, in the nutrition of children, the report points out, noting that “the economic crisis has reduced the purchasing power of many families to guarantee a balanced diet for their children.”. In this context, they point out, school canteens represent a fundamental element to ensure adequate nutrition and physical development of many minors, but “the latest available data show that only less than half of schools (preschool, primary and secondary) offer service dining room (49.4%)” with strong regional differences.

In the southern regions, where the supply of canteens is lower, the percentage of children under 15 years of age who do not consume a portion of meat or fish and a portion of fruit or vegetables per day is 4.1% compared to 2. 9% from the center and 1.7% in the north. Surveys carried out by Save the Children in the last year have revealed that around 20% of the parents of children and adolescents who use the canteen service believe that they will not be able to cover expenses next year. In addition to the economic hardships suffered by many families, the difficulties encountered in the last year due to the closure of schools have been added, since 12.3% of minors between the ages of 6 and 17 did not have a computer or tablet during, fundamental tools to keep up with distance education during the pandemic. In some regions of the South, the percentage reaches 19% and to this is added that around 41.9% of minors in the country lived the period of confinement in homes crowded