Today, on the occasion of World Day against the Exploitation of Child LaborL’UNICEF Italy presented the 2nd statistical report “Child labor in Italy: risks, injuries and safety in the workplace”.
Created as part of the activities of the UNICEF Observatory for the prevention of health damage from child labour, coordinated by Professor Domenico Della Porta, it was managed by the “Public Health Laboratory for the analysis of community health needs” of the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Salernitana Medical School” – University of Salerno.
The report revealed that in 2023 there will be 78,530 underage workers in the 15-17 age group (4.5% of the total population of minors in that age group), increasing compared to 69,601 in 2022 and 51,845 in 2021; the position of “employee” includes the majority of workers, followed by “agricultural workers” and “vouchers”.
If, however, we observe the age group up to 19 years of age, in 2022 there were 376,814 workers, compared to 310,400 in 2021. The data that emerges from the year 2023 leads to a reflection: the increase in underage workers is evident not only with respect to the phase pandemic, but also in comparison to the year 2019.
The Report presented today adds new data relating to child income. The estimated average weekly income for male workers varies from €297 in 2018 to €320 in 2022 while for women it goes from 235 euros in 2018 to 259 euros in 2022. A consistently higher salary for the male gender is confirmed. In the period between 2018 and 2022, the accident reports presented to INAIL at a national level, relating to workers up to 19 years of age, amounted to 338,323 of which: 211,241 for minors aged up to 14 years and 127,082 in 15-19 year old range. There were a total of 83 fatal injury reports in the period between 2018 and 2022 (9 reports in the age group
The report examines the data on child labor and work accidents in Italy in the five-year period 2018-2022, distributed by age, region and gender and was created on the basis of data processed from reports and databases present on the national portals of INAIL, INPS and ISTAT.
Although the data is worrying, good numbers emerge from Campania and Basilicata. The four regions with the highest percentage of employed minors (15-17 years), in relation to the resident population for this age group, are: Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle D’Aosta, Abruzzo and Marche. Basilicata, which had 14,885 minors as of 1 January 2023, had an employment of 608 units, while Campania has 4,366 out of 186,521.
The number of employed and self-employed workers under the age of 19 has been increasing, starting from 2018, in both regions. In 2022 there are 23,380 in Campania while 2,971 in Basilicata.
From a territorial analysis, a general increase in workers from 2018 to 2022, with different intensities in the regions: the greatest positive percentage change occurs in Valle D’Aosta (+57.3%), Sardinia (+55.1%) and Liguria (+48.5%), while Basilicata (+19.1%), Campania (+20%) and Calabria (+20.5%) are the regions that recorded a lowest increase.
The prevalence of male workers under 19 years of age is also confirmed: the female employment rate is much lower of the male one (57.3% versus 78.0%) and the gender gap is increasing in 2022. In Basilicata in 2022 1,931 males work compared to 1,040 females and in Campania 15,330 males and 8,050 females. It should be noted that the greatest employment gap between males and females is present in particular in the regions of Southern Italy.
A new data relating to minors’ income has been added to the annual update report. The estimated average weekly income for male workers varies from 297 euros in 2018 to 320 euros in 2022 while for women it goes from 235 euros in 2018 to 259 euros in 2022.
In all regions there was a increase in per capita incomein particular we highlight Valle D’Aosta with +30.3%, Sardinia with +25.2%, Puglia with +21.1%, Basilicata with +18.7%, finally Friuli Venezia Giulia with +15%.
The report also shows the data concerning the accidents at work both within 14 years and from 15 to 19 years of age. In the five-year period 2018-2022 in Basilicata, workers under the age of 19 were reported 2,566 accidents at workof which 1 was fatal, while in Campania 12,821 of which 4 fatal (1 for the under 14 age group).
Click HERE to consult the complete report.
