The number of people accompanied and helped by diocesan Caritas is growing. Those presented by Caritas Italiana are not just “numbers”, they are above all 269,689 “faces” of the poor, who in turn represent as many families, given that the care always responds to the needs of the internal family unit.
The 2024 national statistical report of Caritas Italiana on poverty in Italy, presented on 19 June in Rome, enhances the information coming from 3,124 diocesan Caritas listening and service centers located in 206 dioceses in all Italian regions. However, these are only those already online with data collection, since the services and works in the territories are actually many more. A dramatic photograph emerges that calls for everyone’s commitment. «This second statistical report takes place in a particular time, marked by events that affect our communities. On the one hand the international crises that heavily influence relations between countries and the development of peace paths, on the other the incessant increase in poverty and the strong incidence of situations of risk and vulnerability. Faced with these scenarios, the Church continues to dream and affirm an authentic humanism, according to which every human being can fully realize himself, living in a more just and dignified world”, underlines the director of Caritas Italiana, Don Marco Pagniello.
The Report shows that in 2023 the share of new poor people listened to decreases, going from 45.3% to 41.0%.
On the other hand, the number of people with “intermittent” and chronic poverty is growing, particularly regarding those families who oscillate between the “inside-outside” condition of need or who have remained in a condition of vulnerability for a long time: one person in four is in fact accompanied by a Diocesan Caritas for 5 years and more. A hard core of poverty therefore seems to be maintained which drags on from year to year without particular shocks and which is due to several factors; 55.4% of beneficiaries in 2023 simultaneously expressed two or more areas of need.
Who turns to Caritas? These are women (51.5%) and men (48.5%), with an average age of 47.2 years (46 in 2022). The incidence of foreign people is decreasing, reaching 57.0% (from 59.6%). However, the incidence of people with children is high: two out of three people (66.2%) declare they are parents. Over two thirds of people in poverty, according to data from the Caritas Help Centers consulted, have low or very low levels of education (67.3%), a condition which is combined with chronic employment fragility, in terms of unemployment (48 .1%) and “poor work” (23%). It is therefore not just the lack of work that drives people to ask for help: in fact almost one beneficiary in four is a poor worker. Furthermore, the percentage of recipients of the Citizenship Income, the measure to combat poverty replaced today by the Inclusion Allowance, stands at 15.9%, a figure that is decreasing compared to 2022 and above all to 2021: at that time the beneficiaries corresponded respectively to 19 .0% and 22.3%.
In terms of responses, the actions of the Caritas network have been numerous and diversified. Overall, over 3.5 million interventions were provided, an average of 13 interventions for each person assisted (also considering listening performance). In particular: 73.7% concerned the provision of material goods and services (food distribution, access to canteens/stores, showers, etc.); 8.9% reception interventions, long or short term; 7.3% listening activities, simple or with discernment; 5.2% social welfare support; 1.7% health interventions.
The Report also contains three thematic focuses which specifically analyze the poverty of families with children, a survey conducted in collaboration with Save the Children, the condition of homeless people and those in solitude, in particular the elderly. «It is the statutory task of Caritas Italiana – recalls the president of Caritas Italiana, Msgr. Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli – carry out studies and research on people’s needs, to help discover the causes, to prepare intervention plans, especially with a view to prevention. This is the intent of the Report we present. A collection of data that was created thanks to the commitment of the operators and volunteers of our listening centers and with the collaboration of people in need who told us their situation. Studies and research must be conducted in collaboration with others and within the framework of a unitary pastoral planning, to animate our communities and to stimulate the action of civil institutions towards adequate legislation. Caritas is very keen, alongside needs, to highlight resources. This Report should be read together with our latest publications which tell the story of the richness of volunteering, in particular that of young people.”
The 2024 national statistical report of Caritas Italiana is available on www.caritas.it.
