«I can’t wait to retire!..» How many times, and how many people, have they thought about saying “goodbye” to work, daily routine, stress and fatigue? If the moment of leaving the labor market is seen as a real liberation, in Italy there are those who think that it could become a far worse condemnation than meetings, phone calls, computers and shifts. Because on closer inspection the majority of men and women “in career” believe that they do not have, in perspective, an adequate pension allowance to live without worries.

Among those who say they are “very confident” (5%) and those who say they are “confident” (33%), less than four out of ten Italians flaunt a certain economic security for their post-working age. The recently published Eurobarometer survey shows that the majority of men and women fear they do not have sufficient resources for their old age. More than three out of ten people (33%) say they are “not sure” that they will be able to have a sufficient pension, and two out of ten people (21%) say they are “not at all confident” that they will be rewarded for the efforts and sacrifices of a life.

A feeling, the tricolor one, not among the most positive. On a descending scale of confidence, Italians’ expectations for pension benefits are 14th at the EU level, slightly in line with France’s, 15th, but behind that of Germany and France, making a comparison with other major economies of the eurozone.

In this fundamental framework it will be to try to leave savings as much as possible. For private wealth, the Italians prove to be masters. It has often been argued that the country’s problem is public debt, not private debt. Eurobarometer confirms this. Italians declare that they have sufficient resources aside to deal with any family crises linked to the loss of the main source of income. Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and then Italy: in the top five of those who can afford to go six months without salary there is also Italy (42% of respondents), with a portion of companies (17%) capable of belt-tightening for three months before getting into serious trouble.

What emerges from the Eurobarometer survey sounds like an alarm bell and an invitation to rework the social security system. Inadequate pensions indicate prospects of poverty and the risk of social exclusion in the making. But pensions are linked to the labor market and contractual conditions. Another element on which to think about to remedy.

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