Italians more optimistic in future wellbeing, social progress: ISTAT report

Italian citizens grew more optimistic in their future wellbeing and social progress in 2014, after their mood registered a sharp decline at the peak of the economic crisis, a report showed on Wednesday.

Some 27 percent of Italians involved in the survey was confident life would improve in the next 5 years, against 24 percent registered in 2013, the BES Report by the Italian National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) said.

The report showed satisfaction for the economic situation was on the rise, reaching 43.4 percent in 2014 compared to 40.1 percent in 2013.

Some 64.6 percent of citizens were also satisfied with their leisure time compared to 63 percent in 2013.

"Despite the country has not yet freed itself from the crisis, optimism about the future is growing," ISTAT Director of Social and Environment Statistics Department Linda Laura Sabbadini said while presenting the key report highlights in Rome.

"That is visible especially in the youth segment of (Italian) society, despite young people are still the most affected by the crisis," she added.

The third annual Report on Equitable and Sustainable Wellbeing (BES 2015) was carried out by ISTAT and the Italian National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) to analyse "the fundamental dimensions of wellbeing and progress in Italy".

It collected data among over 24,000 households, according to 130 indicators and 12 different aspects of life such as health, education, balance between work and private life, economic wealth, social relations, politics, security, environment, and quality of public services.

"During 2014, and even more in early 2015, the economic situation showed a series of positive signals spreading from the northern regions to the rest of the country, and reflecting on the families' condition from the wealthiest ones to those affected by major budget constraint," the report said.

The risk of poverty, and especially of absolute poverty, decreased to 6.8 percent in 2014 after increasing sharply to 7.3 percent in 2013 from a minimum 4.4 percent in 2011.

The share of families struggling to make ends meet fell to 17.9 percent last year, after peaking at 18.8 percent in 2013.

Positive signs were registered also in the job market, with the exception of a rise in the proportion of "very low work intensity households", namely people between 28 and 59 years of age who worked for less than 20 percent of their potential in the related year.

"This figure began increasing in 2010 and kept rising until 2014, when it reached 12.1 percent," the report said.

The disposable household income overall increased by 0.1 percent in 2014, and by 0.7 percent the previous year. The consumer spending also grew moderately last year, while fewer families put in place strategies to curb expenses.

Progresses were registered also in other sectors.

ISTAT highlighted the level of cultural participation in the country improved: the number of people visiting museums, exhibitions and archaeological sites was on the rise in 2014, after going through a negative trend during the whole crisis.

The perception of safety among the population grew to 56.2 percent in 2014 against 54.1 percent in 2013, but it did not reach the higher levels registered in 2010.

Despite a growing optimism and the positive economic and social signals, however, Italians remained prudent in claiming satisfaction with their lives, ISTAT pointed out.

"The uncertainty caused by a long and severe economic crisis seems to make people still cautious, even if a notable 35.4 percent of people claimed a very high level of life satisfaction," it said.

Indeed, the perceived life satisfaction index remained at 89 points in 2014. It had fallen abruptly to that score in 2012, and stayed flat in 2013, from 103.2 points registered in 2011 (year 2010 served as benchmark with 100 points). Endit