The real wage of a worker in Italy is decreased for 30 years now, as in 1990 you earned more than today. This is highlighted by one OECD ranking which, based on the data Eurostat on the average incomes of the member countries of the European Union, underlined how the salary compared to today’s prices is drastically decreasing compared to 1990.
Merciless numbers for Italy, especially looking at the gap with other member countries which have been able to respond over time to the inflation which has gradually eroded the salaries of Italians.
Real wage, a step backwards since 1990
The data on which the OECD ranking was drawn up are those relating to the real wages of the Eurozone countries recorded by Eurostat. Numbers that certify, without any doubt, Italy’s step backwards. Our country, and above all our workers, has seen a substantial decrease in disposable income compared to 1990, with the data for 2020 ringing the alarm bells.
Compared to 30 years ago, in fact, they have been recorded 2.9% declines in real wages compared to that of 2020. A year which, it should be underlined, was heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and which then saw the economic situation become increasingly worse.
It is therefore no surprise that a further decline in 2021, followed by a -7.3% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The cause? The growth in prices driven by the increase in energy prices which has severely reduced the purchasing power of families who buy less and less. And at the same time the lack of an increase in salaries, still stuck at the standards of years and years ago. Not to mention the working conditions to which many have to submit, including seasonal contracts or the scourge of undeclared work which still cannot be eradicated today.
What is the real wage
To understand this step backwards, however, the meaning of real salary must be specified. In fact, it is understood as the salary compared to prices on the market.
The decline in real wages in Italy, therefore, must be translated in only one way: prices have increased, but salaries have always remained the same. The logical consequence, therefore, is that the purchasing power of Italians has become increasingly thinner, leaving little room for manoeuvre.
Real salary comparison
But how do other countries behave? There are those who fare better, and by a lot, compared to Italy. Also because in the OECD ranking the Bel Paese is considered the one in which, among large economies, real wages fell the most.
Incomes grew in Germany (2.7%) and the Czech Republic (4.4%), much more in France, where the nominal value of wages grew by approximately 5%. In Italy, it should be underlined, there was an increase but only by 1%. Given that it has led to a decline in the real wage even in the years in which the minimum wage is being talked about insistently.
In fact, as reported by a study by the Adpt association cited by Corriere della Serathe increase in prices, so sudden and disproportionate, has completely eroded the nominal increase in contractual wages recorded in recent years: “Although since 2015, there has been growth in wages, even in real terms, in most countries Europeans, this growth, whose trend had already suffered a decline in 2021, until it dropped drastically in 2022, stopped with the increase in inflation”.
