Preface - Istat.it

Il Comitato d’indirizzo Cnel - Istat

Il “Comitato di indirizzo sulla misura del progresso della società italiana” è stato costituito dal presidente del Cnel, Antonio Marzano, e dal presidente dell’Istat, Enrico Giovannini, per sviluppare un approccio condiviso alla misura del benessere equo e sostenibile. Il Comitato è composto da rappresentanze delle parti sociali e della società civile.

CoordinatriciMaria Teresa Salvemini, CnelLinda Laura Sabbadini, Istat

Consulta Giorgio Alessandrini, Cnel Paolo Barberini, Cnel Marilena Bauducco, Consulta Femminile Regione Piemonte Gianfranco Bologna, Wwf Anna Maria Carbonelli Quaranta, Consulta Femminile Regione Puglia (fino al 12 settembre 2011)Antonio Colombo, Cnel Amedeo Croce, Cnel (fino al 20 gennaio 2012)Alessandra Del Boca, Cnel Federica De Pasquale, Consulta Femminile Regione Lazio Alberto Fiorillo, Legambiente Onlus Saverio Gazzelloni, Istat Gian Paolo Gualaccini, Forum del Terzo settore Costanzo Jannotti Pecci, Cnel Beniamino Lapadula, Cnel Giovanna Loiudice Abrescia, Consulta Femminile Regione Puglia (dal 13 settembre 2011)Paola Manacorda, Cnel Giulio Marcon, Sbilanciamoci! Lorenzo Miozzi, Consiglio nazionale consumatori ed utenti Marco Mira d’Ercole, OcseEdoardo Patriarca, Cnel Salvatore Settis, Italia Nostra Onlus

Stefano Bruni, Gruppo di supporto (designazione Cnel) Gabriele Olini, Gruppo di supporto (designazione congiunta Cnel Istat) Tommaso Rondinella, Gruppo di supporto (designazione Istat)

Gruppo tecnico Mariano Bella, Confcommercio Edoardo Carra, Cgil Carla Collicelli, Uil Claudio Falasca, già Consigliere Cnel Marco Fattore, Università degli studi di Milano BicoccaAndrea Fioni, Confindustria Adolfo Morrone, Istat Donato Speroni, Università di Urbino

La Commissione scientifica

La Commissione scientifica per la misura del benessere ha il compito di selezionare e valutare gli indicatori statistici più appropriati per misurare i diversi domini identificati dal comitato Cnel – Istat, anche alla luce delle raccomandazioni internazionali.

Presidente

Enrico Giovannini, Istat

Vice presidente Linda Laura Sabbadini, Istat

Membri Alberto Abruzzese, Università di Milano IulmMauro Agnoletti, Università degli studi di FirenzeEnrica Aureli, Sapienza – Università di Roma Marzio Barbagli, Università degli studi Bologna Leonardo Becchetti, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Gian Carlo Blangiardo, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Andrea Brandolini, Banca d’Italia Giuseppe Costa, Università degli studi di Torino Concita D’Ambrosio, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Marco Mira d’Ercole, Ocse Roberto Danovaro, Società italiana di ecologia Tullio De Mauro, Sapienza – Università di Roma Viviana Egidi, Sapienza – Università di Roma Gino Famiglietti, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali Jean-Paul Fitoussi, Osservatorio francese per la congiuntura economica (Ofce) Elena Giachin Ricca, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Silvio Giove, Fondazione Eni “Enrico Mattei” Andrea Ichino, Università degli studi di Bologna Filomena Maggino, Università degli studi di Firenze Luigi Paganetto, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Cristina Quaglierini, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze Emilio Reyneri, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Andrea Saltelli, JRC-ISPRA – Varese Chiara Saraceno, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für SozialforschungAntonio Schizzerotto, Università degli Studi di Trento Giorgio Sirilli, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Giovanni Battista Sgritta, Sapienza – Università di Roma Ugo Trivellato, Università di Padova

Membri IstatCorrado Carmelo AbbateFabrizio Maria ArosioGiovanni BarbieriGiancarlo Bruno Mara Cammarrota Annalisa Cicerchia Cinzia Conti Cesare Costantino Luigi Costanzo Roberta Crialesi Sandro Cruciani Stefania CuicchioAndrea De Panizza Roberta De SantisAlessandra Ferrara Angela Ferruzza Cristina Freguja Stefania Gabriele Lidia Gargiulo Saverio Gazzelloni Marco Malgarini Daniela Marchesi Marco Marsili

Mauro Masselli Pierpaolo Massoli Valeria Mastrostefano Matteo Mazziotta Roberto MonducciSilvia Montecolle Maria Giuseppina Muratore Sante Orsini Nicoletta Pannuzi Adriano Pareto Federica Pintaldi Maria Rosaria Prisco Luciana, Quattrociocchi Alessandra Righi Claudia Rinaldelli Tommaso Rondinella Daniela Rossi Miria Savioli Elisabetta Segre Marina Signore Alessandro Solipaca Francesca Tartamella Claudio Vicarelli

Findings in brief of Bes 2013 report by Cnel and Istat on Equitable and Sustainable Wellbeing in Italy: the most important elements within the twelve domains of citizens’ wellbeing and a summarising table of current trends.

EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WELLBEING IN ITALY

SUMMARY

Segretario Adolfo Morrone, Istat

Coadiutori di segreteria Sara Demofonti, Istat Carla De Nisco, Istat

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Preface

In this first Report on “Equitable and Sustainable Well-being” (Benessere Equo e Sostenibile - Bes) the National Council for Economics and Labour (Cnel) and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) present the results of an inter-institutional initiative of great scientific importance, which places Italy in the forefront of the international panorama for the development of well-being indicators going “beyond GDP”.

In recent years, the debate on how to measure the well-being of individuals and societies has been of primary interest to global public opinion. The crises of the last few years (food, energy and environmental, financial, economic and social) have made clear the urgent need to develop new statistical measures capable of guiding decision-makers in policy making, as well as firms’ and citizens’ individual behaviours. While gross domestic product (GDP) remains undeniably important as a way to measure national economic results, it is essential to complement it with economic, environmental and social indicators able to provide a comprehensive assessment of society’s conditions and progress.

In line with the most advanced experiences that are being developed all over the world, in December 2010 Cnel and Istat committed themselves to provide the society with a measurement tool capable of identifying the underlying elements of well-being in Italy. This result has been achieved through the involvement not only of some of the major experts in the various aspects which contribute to well-being (health, environment, employment, economic conditions, etc.), but also of the Italian society itself, through discussions and exchange of views with thousands of citizens, along with meetings held with institutions, social partners and NGOs. This is why Bes indicators aim at becoming a sort of “Statistical Constitution”, providing a constant and shared point of reference for the Italian society, capable of leading the way to achieve the progress which the society itself is looking for.

The result of this effort is described in this Report, written in a language accessible to everyone, while the body of statistical and methodological information developed during the project is available on www.misuredelbenessere.it. We hope that the Bes 2013 Report will be publicised through the channels dedicated to institutional information and debated in the highest institutional settings, including the recently formed Parliament and its commissions. As it happens in some countries, the reports which accompany new legislation could try to evaluate their impact on the various aspects of Bes.

In 2005, Cnel had already elaborated a project entitled “indicators for sustainable development”, approved during the Council Assembly held on 28 April 2005. Istat, meanwhile, is developing a range of econometric models to be used as policy forecasting and assessment tools capable of including various factors of well-being. However, the set of indicators of Equitable and Sustainable Well-being used in this Report must not be seen as definitive: the experts consulted over these months have already suggested improvements aiming, for example, at providing a more accurate picture of economic, social and environmental sustainability of the country’s current development process. Moreover, initiatives have been launched to extend the availability of indicators to both provincial and metropolitan levels.

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Additional proposals will emerge from the practical application of the selected indicators. Therefore, the “Bes 2013” Report is only the first step of a path along which Cnel and Istat engage to continue, aiming at making the country more aware of its strengths and of the issues to overcome in order to improve the quality of life of its present and future citizens, placing this concept at the centre of public policy and individual choices.

Antonio Marzano Enrico Giovannini PresidentofCnel PresidentofIstat

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Equitable and sustainable well-being

Whatdowemeanwhenwerefertosocietalwell-being?The concept of well-being changes according to historical periods, places and culturesandcannotthereforebedefinedsimplyaccordingtoatheoreticalformat.Moreover,scientificresearchinthisfieldshowsusthat,atthemoment,no single statistical indicator is capable to fully represent a society’s state of well-being,leavingustorefertoarangeofmeasures.Thisiswhythechoiceofthemaindimensionsofwell-beingtowhichasocietyshouldrefer,andthereforetheindicatorscho-sentorepresent them,requires thedirect involvement of the various components of the society.Ifwellorganised,thisprocessprovidesanimportantdemocraticlegitimisationforthemeasureschosentorepresenttheconceptofwell-being,somethingwhichisessentialiftheyaretobeusedtoidentifypossibleprioritiesforpoliticalaction.

Followingtheseconsiderationsandrecommendationsmadeattheinternationallevel,apro-cesswas initiated in Italy to identifyasharedmeasurementofwell-beingat thenationallevel,tobecomeareferencepointforpublicdebateandtobeusedtoguideimportantdemo-craticchoicesforthecountry’sfuture.Inordertodefinetheessentialelementsofwell-beinginItaly,CnelandIstatsetupa“Steering Committee for the measurement of progress in the Italian society”composedofrepresentativesfromsocialpartnersandthecivilsociety.Furthermore,IstatestablishedalargeandqualifiedScientificCommissionofexpertsfromthevariousdomainsofsocietalwell-being.

Thisorganisationalapproachstemmedfromtheconsiderationthattherearetwoessentialelementsformeasuringprogress:thefirst,strictlypolitical,relatestothecontentsoftheconceptofwell-being;thesecond,ofatechnical-scientificnature,concernsthemeasure-mentoftherelevantconcepts.Asaresult,Cnel,aconstitutionalbodyrepresentingthecivilsociety(itsmembersincluderepresentativesfromassociations,tradeunionsandthethirdsector)andIstat,an institutionwhereexpertsoperate inthemeasurementof thevariouseconomic,socialandenvironmentalphenomena,havecombinedtheirforcestoreachajointdefinitionofasharedsetof indicators tobeused todefine thestateandprogressofourcountry.

Theconceptchosenforthisexercisewastheoneof“Equitable and Sustainable Well-being”and the project aimed at analysing the levels, time trends and distribution of its variouscomponents, inorderto identifythestrengthsandweaknesses,aswellasparticularter-ritorialimbalancesoradvantaged/disadvantagedsocialgroups,consideringthemfromaninter-generationalpointofview(sustainability).

TheresultissummarisedinthisfirstreportonEquitableandSustainableWell-beinginItaly,whosemainfeaturesarereportedbelow.

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Health

People are living longer, but with stronger social inequality

Average lifespan continues to increase,withItalybeingoneofthecountriesofEuropewiththehighestlifeexpectancy.Despitetheirhistoricaladvantageovermenintermsoflifeex-pectancy(which,however,isdecreasing),women have a disadvantage in terms of the quali-ty of survival:onaverage,morethanathirdoftheirlivesarelivedinpoorhealthconditions.TheSouth is doubly penalised,withshorteraveragelifeexpectancyandfeweryearslivedwithouthealthlimitations.Attheageof65,womenlivinginthisareacancountonanav-erage7.3yearsoflifewithoutlimitationsaffectingtheirdailyactivities,whilewomenofthesameageintheNorthhaveanother10.4yearsaheadofthem.

Childmortalityduetoroadaccidentsandtumours,whichcanbecountedunderso-called“avoidablecausesofdeath”,isfallinginthelongterm,whilethenumberofdeathsduetoseniledementiaandnervoussystemdiseasesisrising.However,thepopulationcontinuestobethreatenedbydangerous behaviours:obesityisrising(approximately45%oftheadultpopulationisoverweightorobese),whilesmoking,after10years,hasfallenonlyslightly,andnotamongyoungpeople(thepercentageofsmokersovertheageof14was23.7%in2001;tenyearslaterthepercentage,whichhadremainedstablesince2004,hasfallenbyonly1%).Casesofalcoholabusehavealsorisenamongyoungpeople.Alargepercentageofadultshaveasedentarylifestyle(approximately40%donothaveanyphysicalactivityintheirfreetime);furthermore,inItalymorethan80%ofthepopulationconsumeslessthantherecommendedamountoffruitsandvegetables.

Alloftheseelementsrepresentriskfactorsnotonlyforthecurrenthealthofthepopulation,butalsoandaboveallforthefuture,iftheycontinuetobepartofthepopulation’slifestyle.Onceagain,people from the South and from the lower social groups continue to be disad-vantagedinalloftheareasconsidered.

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Delay in comparison with Europe, but slowly improving

Educationandwell-beinggohandinhand,butdespite the improvements of the last decade, Italy is still not able to offer to all young people the chance for an adequate education.ThereisadelayincomparisonwiththeEuropeanaverageandastrongterritorialgapinalltheindicatorsregardingeducation,continuingeducationandskilllevels.Forexample, inItalythepercentageofpeopleaged30-34whohaveauniversityqualificationisof20.3%,againstaEuropeanaverageof34.6%.

The level of education and skills which young people achieve depends strongly from their social background, socio-economic situation and geographical location.Thereisamarkedgapinliteracyandnumeracyskillsbetweenstudentsinsecondaryschoolsandprofessionaltraininginstituteswhichcannotsimplybejustifiedbythedifferentvocationoftheinstitutes:furthermore,theeducationsystemisprofoundlydifferentbetweenNorthandSouth.Familybackgroundalsostronglyaffecttheresults,tothepointthatchildrenofparentswithcompul-soryeducationashighestqualificationhaveadrop-outrateof27.7%,againstarateof2.9%amongchildrenofparentswithatleastauniversitydegree.

Educationandtrainingaimstoachieveandmaintainadequateknowledgeandskillsinorderto increase people’s employability, promote development and reach an adequate lifestyleforthecomplexsocietyinwhichwelive.Inviewofthis,thecurriculum is not limited to for-mal education,butisaconstantprocesswhichstartsbeforecompulsoryschooling,withthestimulusreceivedfromthehomeenvironmentduringearlychildhoodandinnurseryschool,andextendsbeyondsecondaryschooloruniversitywithcontinuingeducationandculturalparticipationactivitiesingeneral.Regardingthisprocessof“lifelonglearning”,the situation improvedbetween2004and2011for nearly all the indicators considered, although Italy did not manage to close the gap with the rest of Europeandcontinuestodisplayaseriesofcrit-icalissues.Inthefirstplace,theeconomiccrisisthathashityoungpeopleparticularlyhardleadingtoarise(from19.5%in2009to22.7%in2011)inthepercentageofNEET,i.e.youngpeopleaged15-29whoarenotinemployment,educationortraining.Moreover,therewasacleardecreaseinthelevelofculturalparticipation:inparticular,afteraperiodofstability,in2012theindicatorshowedasharpfallto32.8%from37.1%in2011.Territorial differences remain strong:in2011thepercentageofpeoplebetweentheagesof25-64withatleastasecondaryschooldiplomawas59%intheNorthand48.7%intheSouth.Similarly, intheSouthNEETsaccountedfor31.9%ofthetotalpopulationinthesameagerange,twiceasintheNorth(15.4%).

Animprovementinthelevelofeducationandskillstoreduceterritorialandsocialinequali-tiesandguaranteegreateropportunitiesforyoungpeoplefromdisadvantagedbackgroundsappears,therefore,tobeapriorityforourcountry.

Education and training

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A serious waste of resources, exacerbated by the crisis

Allavailableindicatorsshowa poor use of human resources in Italy, especially with regard to women and young people employment.Therateofemploymentandnon-participationinthelabourmarket,alreadyamongtheworstintheEuropeanUnion,furtherdeterioratedinrecentyearsduetotheeconomiccrisis.Theemploymentrateforthepopulationbetweentheages20-64fellfrom63%in2008to61.2%in2011,whiletherateofnon-participationinthelabourmarketrosefrom15.6%to17.9%.

Nearlyalltheindicatorsforqualityofemploymentalsoworsened,andnotonlyduetothenegativeeconomicsituation.Whileaconstantlevelofshort-termemploymentcontractsin-dicatesthecontinuationofaconditionoflabour market instability,thecrisisdrasticallyre-ducedthechancesofstabilisationfortemporarycontracts,especiallyamongyoungpeople(thepercentageofthosepassingfromafixed-termtoapermanentcontractfellfrom25.7%in2008to20.9%in2011).Theshareoflow-wageworkers(10.5%)andnotregularlyemployed(10.3%)remainedsubstantiallystableinrecentyears,althoughthe percentage of workers who were over-qualified for their activities rose (21.1%in2010).Nonetheless,on overall the Italian workforce has a positive perception of its condition(averagerating:7.3outof10),especiallyregardingtheirinterestintheworktheyperform.

Inequalities in the access to employment (territorial, generational and citizenship) also be-came sharperduetothecrisis.Theexceptionwasfortheemploymentgapbetweenmenandwomen,asthecrisishadaheavier impactontypicallymale jobs inconstructionandmanufacturing:however,thegendergapremainsoneofthehighestinEurope(theemploy-mentrateat20-64yearsisof72.6%formenand49.9%forwomen).AfterSpain,ItalyistheEuropeancountrywiththehighest level of unemployment among young people,andtheonlycountrywhereanentiremacro-regionhasexceptionallylowregularemploymentopportu-nities. The various aspects of employment quality also show continuing and conspicuousinequalitiestothedisadvantageofwomen,youngpeopleandtheSouth.

Moreover,itisinterestingtonotehowtheelementswhichdefinesatisfactionvarybetweenmenandwomen:menrateearningsasthemostimportantaspect,whilewomenaremoresatisfiedbyworkplacerelations,workinghoursandthedistancebetweenhomeandwork.Infact,employmentqualityforwomencannotignorethedifficultiesofbalancingworkandhome life.Even if theasymmetry in family work is slowly diminishing, thepercentageofwomenwithanoverloadofhoursdedicatedtowork(paidornot)didnotfallovertime(39.2%in2008),justastheratiobetweentheemploymentrateforwomenwithpre-schoolagechil-drenandforwomenwithoutchildrendidnotincrease,remainingstableat72%.Thecondi-tionswereworseforwomenintheSouth,leadingtothesuppositionthatalackofservicescontributestodissatisfaction.

Lastly,regardingforeign workers,onthewholethecrisisdidnotheavilypenalisetheirrateofparticipationinthelabourmarket(whichfellto66.2%in2011from69.8%in2005),butex-clusivelyaffectedmaleemploymentrates.Therewasalsoamarkedandgrowingdisadvan-tageintermsofemploymentqualityincomparisontoItalians:thepercentageofover-quali-fiedworkerswasovertwicethatofItalianworkers(42.3%against19%).

Work and life balance

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Economic well-being

Social security and family networks have softened the crisis, but deprivation and poverty are on the rise

Italianfamilieshavetraditionallybeencharacterisedbyahightendencytosave,widespreadhomeownership,alimitedtendencytoincurdebtsandalessmarkedunequaldistributionofwealththanincomelevelsincomparisonwithotherEuropeancountries.Givenawelfaresystemwhichhasalwaysbeen focusedonpensions, familieshaveactedasabufferpro-tectingsociety’sweakermembers(children,youngpeopleandtheelderly),attimeshidingthedifficultiesfacedbyyoungpeopleofbothgendersandwomenofallagesinaccessingeconomicindependence(especiallyinthecaseofsignificantfamilyworkloadsforwomen).

The economic crisis of the last five years is revealing the limitations of this model, accentu-ating inequality between social classes, profound territorial differences and further reduc-ing the already scarce social mobility.Duringthisperiod,certainsegmentsofthepopulationandareasofthecountrywereparticularlyhardlyhitbyjoblosses:thepercentageofindividu-alsinjoblesshouseholdspassedfrom5.1%in2007to7.2%in2011,withamoreaccentuatedtrendamongyoungpeopleundertheageof25(amongwhomitrosefrom5.4%to8%)andintheSouth(increasingfrom9.9%to13.5%).Purchasingpower,i.e.theavailableincomeoffamiliesinrealterms,fellby5%between2007and2011,althoughthisdidnottranslateintoasignificantriseinpovertyandseveredeprivationuntil2009(stableat18.4%and7%respec-tively),thankstotheincreasinginterventionsofincomesupportforworkers(unemploymentbenefitsandsalaryintegration)andthecontributionoffamilysupportnetworks.

Infact,families softened the effect of the gradual erosion of purchasing power by falling back on their capital, saving less and, in some cases, running into debt(thepercentageofpeopleinfamilieswhoreceivedfinancialorotheraidfromnon-cohabitingrelatives,friends,institutionsorothersourcesrosefrom15.3%in2010to18.8%in2011,andthepercentageof indebted households rose from 2.3% to 6.5% in the first nine months of 2012). As thecrisiscontinued,the situation deteriorated considerably in 2011,confirmedbytherise inindicatorsofmaterialdeprivation:seriousdeprivationroseby4.2%, increasingfrom6.9%to11.1%,whiletheriskofpovertycalculatedby2010incomerosefrom13.6%to15.1%inCentralItalyandfrom31%to34.5%intheSouth.Moreover,incomeinequalitiesrosetoo:theratiobetweentheincomeownedbythetop20%earnersandthelowest20%rosefrom5.1in2008to5.6in2011.

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Social relationships

Scarce trust in other people, heavy reliance on family networks, strong social networks but only in some areas of the country

Inourcountry,wetypicallyrelyon“short”formsofsolidarityand“close”ties,inparticularfamilyrelations.Bothintimesofhardshipandinnormalday-to-dayactivities,family rep-resents a fundamental network of support,animportantpointofreferencewhich-withallthelimitationsanddifficultiesimposedbyrecentsocialandeconomictransformations-stillappearstofunctionandprovideconsiderableassistancetoItalians.Infact,in201236.8%ofpeopleovertheageof14statedthattheywereverysatisfiedbyfamilyrelations;thisisinad-ditionto54.2%whowerequitesatisfied.However,the resulting burden of care - especially for women - risks to become excessive, also due to the absence of certain social services.

A network of relations with non-cohabitant relatives and friendsdevelopsaroundfamilies,performing a fundamental role in providing assistancewhichindividualsandfamiliesareusedtorelyon.In2009,nearly76%ofthepopulationstatedthattheyhadrelatives,friendsorneighbourswhotheycouldcountonand30%providedfreeassistance.Associationsandvolunteerorganisationsrepresentawealthforourcountry,which,however,isnotdistrib-utedovertheentireterritoryandislesspresentintheSouth,wheretheneedisgreatest:inparticular,13.1%ofthepopulationovertheageof14residentintheNorthstatedthattheyperformvoluntaryactivities,incomparisonwith6%intheSouth.

Inadditiontothesenetworksthereare“theothers”,thesocietyasawhole,towhichcitizensshowprofounddiffidence.In2012,only20%ofpeopleovertheageof14believedthatmostpeoplearetrustworthy,lowerthanin2010(21.7%)andevenlowerintheSouth(15.2%).ItalyisoneoftheOECDcountrieswiththelowestlevelsoftrustinothers,especiallyincompari-sonwithcountriessuchasDenmarkandFinland,wherethepercentageofpeoplewhotrustothersreaches60%.

Therefore,wearelivinginasocietywherethepresenceofsocial,familyandvolunteernet-works are not enough to guarantee a strong social fabric: in the South, in particular, allformsofsocialnetworksappeartobeweakerthanelsewhereinthecountryandtrustto-wardsothersisatitslowest.Moreover,acountrywithlowlevelsoftrustbetweencitizensmayfinditmoredifficulttocreatetheconditionsforafullysatisfactoryeconomicandsociallife.

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Politics and institutions

Politics is increasingly distant from its citizens

Mistrust of parties, Parliament, regional, provincial and municipal councils and the judicial system:figuresshowa transversal lackof trust fromall segmentsof thepopulation,allareasofthecountryandthevarioussocialclasses.InMarch2012,theworstratingforciti-zens’trustininstitutionsconcernspoliticalparties:theaveragetrustofcitizensinpoliticalparties,onascaleof0to10,wasofjust2.3;thiswasfollowedbyParliament(3.6),localau-thorities(4)andthejudicialsystem(4.4).Theonly“institutions”whichcitizenstrustedwerethefirebrigade(8.1)andthepolice(6.5).

Giventhissituation, it ishardlysurprisingthatpoliticalparticipation is lowandfalling. In2009,forthelatestEuropeanelections,theparticipationratefellto65.1%(85.7%in1979).However,weshouldnotethatthisparticipation isexpressedonseveral levels: interest inpublicaffairsdoesnotnecessarilycorrespondtosupportingpolitics inastrictsense,butmayalsoinvolveinquiringorexchangingopinionsonpoliticalmatters.In2012,the popula-tion over the age of 14 who participates in civil and political life,i.e.whospeaksorfindsoutaboutpoliticsatleastonceaweekorhadparticipatedonlineatleastonceinthelastthreemonths,remained stable at 67%.Inthisregard,althoughthenumberofcyber citizens,i.e.those(especiallyyoungpeople)whofindinformationthroughtheinternet,rose(from12%to17.4%),alargepartofthepopulationstilldoesnotparticipateinpoliticsinanyformandthepercentageofthosewhodotalkandfindoutaboutpoliticsappearstobefalling.

Whilecitizensingeneralappeartobeuninterestedinpolitics,womenconsideritasextra-neous to their interests.This ishardlysurprisingconsidering that the number of women elected in parliamentary assemblies and the most important public and private sector deci-sion-making bodies continues to remain very low.ThegenderimbalanceinParliamentandRegionalCouncilscontinuestobeparticularlymarked:inthe2008elections,thenumberofwomenelectedintheParliamentaccountedforonly20.3%ofthetotal,andthepercentageofwomeninRegionalCouncilswasevenlower(12.9%in2012).Inthesameway,inspiteoftheriseduetoarecentlaw,inmid-2012only10.6%ofthemembersofthegoverningboardsofcompaniesquotedonthestockexchangewerefemale.

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Criminality rates have fallen, but improvement stopped

From the early 1990s onwards, criminality has fallen both for crimes against property and homicides.Forhomicides,cartheftandmuggings,therewasanetandcontinuingfall(ratesper100,000populationfellfrom2.6to0.9forhomicide,from100.2to29.1formuggingsandfrom572.6to327.3forcartheft).Thenumberofmuggingsstoppedfallingin1998,andthetrendcontinuedtovaryinthesubsequentyears.Forburglaries,afterasignificantfallre-cordedupuntiltheearlypartofthelastdecade(from341per100,000populationin1992to296in2002),thetrendstartedtorisefrom2006onwards,althoughvaryingconsiderablyovertime.Thefallinrobberiesstoppedasearlyas1995(from55.9in1992to50.3in1995),whenthenumberbegantorisesharplyagainupuntil2007(86.2).Inthefollowingyears,however,thetrendfellslightly.Accordingtorecentdata,in2011thenumberofmuggingsandburgla-riesappeartoberisingonceagain.

From 2002 to 2009, the sense of insecurity rose among all ages and more sharply among women than men (thepercentageofpeoplewhofeelveryorquitesafefellfrom64.6%in2002to59.6%in2009).Thepopulation’senseofinsecurityisnotnecessarilyaresultofthelevelofcriminality,butalsorelatestothelevelofdecayoftheenvironmentinwhichwelive:in2009,thepercentageofcitizenswhooftensawsituationsofdecayintheirneighbourhoodwasof15.6%.Women are particularly concerned about the risk of sexual violence,afearwhichissharedbymorethanhalfofthem(52.1%)andwhichhasbeengrowingsharplysince2002.Ontheotherhand,violenceagainstwomenisawidespreadphenomenonandtakesplaceinavarietyofforms(physical,sexualandpsychological,insideandoutsidethefamily).Whilemenhomicidesdiminish,thisisnotthecaseforfemicides.Moreover,violenceagainstwomenisalargelyhiddenphenomenon.

Security

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Subjective well-being

High levels of life satisfaction, though falling in the last year

Italians are generally satisfied with their lives,althoughtheuncertaintyoftheeconomicandsocialsituationishavinganegativeimpactonbothbehavioursandperceptions.Infact,until2011nearlyhalf thepopulationover14statedhighlevelsofsatisfactionfortheir livesasawhole,indicatingascoreofbetween8and10(onascaleof0to10).However,in2012thesignsofhardship,crisisandinsecurity,alreadyrecordedbythetraditionaleconomicindicators,havealsohadasignificantimpactonthelevelofoverallsatisfaction.Infact,thepercentageofthepopulation indicatinghigh levelsofsatisfaction in life ingeneral fell from45.8% in2011 to35.2%in2012.Thegapinsubjectivewell-beingonaterritorialandsociallevelalsorose,alongwithnewdifferences:satisfactionwithlifefellmoreintheSouth(recordedat29.5%against40.6%intheNorth)andamongthosewithalowerlevelofeducationandemploymentcondi-tions.Atthesametime,despitethedifficultsituation,in2012aquarterofthepopulationover14declaredtohaveexpectationsofimprovementforthefuture.

Satisfaction regarding the personal economic situation worsened considerably:againstasta-ble2.5%ofthosewhodeclaredtobeverysatisfied,in2012boththepercentageofthosewhodeclaredlittlesatisfactionandthosewhodeclarednosatisfactionatallfortheirpersonaleco-nomicsituationrose(respectively,from36.1%to38.9%andfrom13.4%to16.8%).Meanwhile,thepercentageofthosewhowerequitesatisfiedfellfrom45.9%to40.3%.

Afundamentalaspectofqualityoflife,leisure,althoughconsideredasverysatisfactorybyasmallpartofthepopulation(15.6%),didnotappeartobeinvolvedinthefallinoveralllifesat-isfactionrecordedin2012.Infact,incomparisonwiththepreviousyear,the number of those stating that they were very satisfied by their free time rose across the whole country,inpar-ticularintheNorthandSouth.Thepositivetrendonanationallevelalsoappliedtootherareasofdailylifeinvolvingrelationshipswithfriendsandfamily.

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Landscape and cultural heritage

A great wealth not adequately protected

Ourcountry’sculturalheritage,theresultofacombinationofanextraordinarystratificationofcivilisationsandthewealthanddiversityofitsenvironments,representsapricelessvalueforthesociety.Thelongandcomplexhistoryofhumansettlementinarelativelysmallandverydiverseterritoryintermsofclimateandgeo-morphologicalstructurehasproducedanaccumulationofculturalheritageandamosaicofhumanenvironmentsthatisuniqueforbothsizeandimportance,with47nationalsiteslistedasUNESCOWorldHeritagesitesandadensityofculturalassets-monuments,museums,archaeologicalsites,etc.-ofmorethan33perhundredsquarekilometres.

However,ourhistoricalandartisticheritagesuffersfromlimited economic resources dedi-cated to the sector(publicspendinginItalyonculturalactivitiesisof0.4%ofGDP),a failure to respect regulations(morethan15illegalhomesarebuiltforeach100legallyconstructedhomes)andalackofprecisecontrolsbytheauthorities:thecountrysideisthreatenedbyconstant and often uncontrolled urban expansion,tothepointthatagriculturalareasaffect-edbyurbansprawl(intransitionfromruraltourban)represent20%ofthenationalterritory.Thisaddstothenegativeeffectsoftheradicaltransformationofagriculture,withtheerosion of active agricultural areas due to the discontinuation of certain crops and gradual depopu-lation,phenomenawhichapplyto28.3%ofthenationalterritory.

TheresultinghardshipisfeltbyaconsistentpartoftheItalianpopulation:18.3% of citizens are dissatisfied by the landscape where they live and 20.4% are concerned by the impover-ishment of natural resources(15.8%in1998),alarmingsignalsforwhathasbeenknownforcenturiesas“thegardenofEurope”.

14

Environment

Some signs of improvement and persisting problems

Ourwell-being isclosely linkedtothestateoftheenvironmentwherewelive,alongwiththestabilityandentityofavailablenaturalresources.Therefore,inordertoguaranteeandincreasecurrentandfuturewell-being,itisessentialtotryandmeethumanneedsbypro-motingdevelopmentactivitiesthatdonotcompromisetheconditionsandbalancesofnatu-ralecosystems.

InItaly,thesignalsregardingthequalityofthesoilandterritoryarecontradictory:inpar-ticular,the amount of urban green spaces and protected areas is increasing(incomparisonwith2000,provincialcapitalshave3.1squaremetresextragreenspacepercapita),but hy-dro-geological degradation still remains a serious risk throughout the national territory.Thisaddstothehealthandenvironmentalrisksduetopollutioninmanyareasofourcoun-try,whichrequiresafetyandsanitationoperations:therearecurrently57sitesofnationalinterestrequiringenvironmentalrecovery,foratotalof545,000hectares,theequivalentof1.8%ofthenationalterritory.

Water and air qualityarealsofundamentalaspectsforhumanwell-beingandhealth.Theuseofdrinkingwater,253litrespercapitaeverydayin2008,wasinlinewithEuropeanav-erageandhasremainedsubstantiallyconstantsince1999,although32%isstilllostthroughinefficienciesindistributionnetworks.Regardingairpollution,thethresholdlevelofPM10(atmosphericpollutionparticulates)wasexceeded54,4daysduring2011inthemajorItaliancities.Thisrepresentsanincreasewithrespecttothe44.6daysof2010,withnegativecon-sequencesforhumanhealthprotection.

The use of energy from renewable sources is increasing,risingfrom15.5%oftotalenergyusein2004to22.2%in2010,abovetheEUaverageof19.9%.Moreover,theuseofnationalmaterialresourcesfell,althoughitistoosoontopointtoa“de-materialisation”trendintheItalianeconomy.Lastly,anthropic emissions of climate-altering gases from industrial ac-tivities and family uses fell:from10tonnesofCO2equivalentpercapitain2003-2004tojustover8in2009,althoughthismayalsobeduetothesignificantimpactoftheeconomiccrisisonindustrialproductionlevels,andthereforeonemissions.

15

Companies are more committed to innovation, but the gap with EU average remains

Italy lags considerably behind the most advanced European countries in terms of research and patent registrations, while it is better placed in terms of the propensity to innovation of enterprises.Theratiobetweenresearchanddevelopment(R&D)expenditureandGDPisstableat1.3%,againstaEuropeanaverageof2%andatargetof3%.Morethanhalfofthisspending comes from enterprises, although we are still a long way off European targetsfor private sector spending. The number of patents is also low (73.3 per million popula-tionagainstaEuropeanaverageof108.6),whilehigh-technologysectorsaccountfor3.3%ofoverall jobs(3.8%inEurope)andtheso-called“knowledgeworkers” (i.e.graduatesoremployedintechnical-scientificsectors)representonly13.3%oftotaljobs(against18.8%averageintheEU).Ontheotherhand,between2008and201054% of Italian enterprises introduced product, process, organisation or marketing innovations,againstanEUaverageof49%.

Regarding thespreadof technologicalknowledge, internet use increased in recent yearstocover54%ofthepopulationaged16-74,butstillremains16pointsbelowtheEuropeanaverage.Furthermore,thetechnologicaldividethataffectstheSouth,elderly,womenandpeoplewithalowlevelofeducationisstillstronganddoesnotshowanysignificantsignofimprovement.

Research and innovation

16

Quality of services

Still delays, with significant improvements

Theanalysisoftherangeofservicestypicallyguaranteedtothemembersofamodernso-cietysuchas the Italianoneshowsadiversifiedpicture.The quality of social services is not always adequate, although significant progress has been made over time.Forexam-ple,waitinglistsremainanimportantobstacletoaccessingnationalhealthservices;ontheotherhand,thenumberofelderlypeoplereceivinghomeassistancehasdoubledinrecentyears,andmanymorechildrenwereacceptedintoearlychildcarestructures,althoughthepercentageofchildrenwhousetheseservicesremainslow(14%).ThesituationintheSouthremainsworsethanintherestofthecountry.

The level of public utility services, such as gas, electricity and water, improved.Thenumberoffamilieswhocomplainsaboutproblemswithwaterdistributionfellfrom17%in2004to8.9%in2012:nonetheless,thesituationremainscriticalinCalabriaandSicily,wheremorethanaquarterofthepopulationstillsuffersfromsupplyinterruptions.

Hugestepsforwardhavebeenmadeinwaste sorting collection,whichhasreached35.3%,althoughthecountryisstillalongwayfromthestandardsofthebestperformingEUstates:asaresult,toomuchwaste(nearlyhalf)issenttolandfill.Public transport infrastructures have been slightly increasedaswell,althoughwithoutsignificantlyreducingthetimespentbypeopleintheirdailytraveling(76minutes).

Lastly,figuresreveal thedramatic situation of those living in Italian prisons,wherehighlevels of overcrowding (139.7 prisoners per every 100 beds) do not allow adequate livingconditionsforprisoners.

Il Comitato d’indirizzo Cnel - Istat

Il “Comitato di indirizzo sulla misura del progresso della società italiana” è stato costituito dal presidente del Cnel, Antonio Marzano, e dal presidente dell’Istat, Enrico Giovannini, per sviluppare un approccio condiviso alla misura del benessere equo e sostenibile. Il Comitato è composto da rappresentanze delle parti sociali e della società civile.

CoordinatriciMaria Teresa Salvemini, CnelLinda Laura Sabbadini, Istat

Consulta Giorgio Alessandrini, Cnel Paolo Barberini, Cnel Marilena Bauducco, Consulta Femminile Regione Piemonte Gianfranco Bologna, Wwf Anna Maria Carbonelli Quaranta, Consulta Femminile Regione Puglia (fino al 12 settembre 2011)Antonio Colombo, Cnel Amedeo Croce, Cnel (fino al 20 gennaio 2012)Alessandra Del Boca, Cnel Federica De Pasquale, Consulta Femminile Regione Lazio Alberto Fiorillo, Legambiente Onlus Saverio Gazzelloni, Istat Gian Paolo Gualaccini, Forum del Terzo settore Costanzo Jannotti Pecci, Cnel Beniamino Lapadula, Cnel Giovanna Loiudice Abrescia, Consulta Femminile Regione Puglia (dal 13 settembre 2011)Paola Manacorda, Cnel Giulio Marcon, Sbilanciamoci! Lorenzo Miozzi, Consiglio nazionale consumatori ed utenti Marco Mira d’Ercole, OcseEdoardo Patriarca, Cnel Salvatore Settis, Italia Nostra Onlus

Stefano Bruni, Gruppo di supporto (designazione Cnel) Gabriele Olini, Gruppo di supporto (designazione congiunta Cnel Istat) Tommaso Rondinella, Gruppo di supporto (designazione Istat)

Gruppo tecnico Mariano Bella, Confcommercio Edoardo Carra, Cgil Carla Collicelli, Uil Claudio Falasca, già Consigliere Cnel Marco Fattore, Università degli studi di Milano BicoccaAndrea Fioni, Confindustria Adolfo Morrone, Istat Donato Speroni, Università di Urbino

La Commissione scientifica

La Commissione scientifica per la misura del benessere ha il compito di selezionare e valutare gli indicatori statistici più appropriati per misurare i diversi domini identificati dal comitato Cnel – Istat, anche alla luce delle raccomandazioni internazionali.

Presidente

Enrico Giovannini, Istat

Vice presidente Linda Laura Sabbadini, Istat

Membri Alberto Abruzzese, Università di Milano IulmMauro Agnoletti, Università degli studi di FirenzeEnrica Aureli, Sapienza – Università di Roma Marzio Barbagli, Università degli studi Bologna Leonardo Becchetti, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Gian Carlo Blangiardo, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Andrea Brandolini, Banca d’Italia Giuseppe Costa, Università degli studi di Torino Concita D’Ambrosio, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Marco Mira d’Ercole, Ocse Roberto Danovaro, Società italiana di ecologia Tullio De Mauro, Sapienza – Università di Roma Viviana Egidi, Sapienza – Università di Roma Gino Famiglietti, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali Jean-Paul Fitoussi, Osservatorio francese per la congiuntura economica (Ofce) Elena Giachin Ricca, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Silvio Giove, Fondazione Eni “Enrico Mattei” Andrea Ichino, Università degli studi di Bologna Filomena Maggino, Università degli studi di Firenze Luigi Paganetto, Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Cristina Quaglierini, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze Emilio Reyneri, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Andrea Saltelli, JRC-ISPRA – Varese Chiara Saraceno, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für SozialforschungAntonio Schizzerotto, Università degli Studi di Trento Giorgio Sirilli, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Giovanni Battista Sgritta, Sapienza – Università di Roma Ugo Trivellato, Università di Padova

Membri IstatCorrado Carmelo AbbateFabrizio Maria ArosioGiovanni BarbieriGiancarlo Bruno Mara Cammarrota Annalisa Cicerchia Cinzia Conti Cesare Costantino Luigi Costanzo Roberta Crialesi Sandro Cruciani Stefania CuicchioAndrea De Panizza Roberta De SantisAlessandra Ferrara Angela Ferruzza Cristina Freguja Stefania Gabriele Lidia Gargiulo Saverio Gazzelloni Marco Malgarini Daniela Marchesi Marco Marsili

Mauro Masselli Pierpaolo Massoli Valeria Mastrostefano Matteo Mazziotta Roberto MonducciSilvia Montecolle Maria Giuseppina Muratore Sante Orsini Nicoletta Pannuzi Adriano Pareto Federica Pintaldi Maria Rosaria Prisco Luciana, Quattrociocchi Alessandra Righi Claudia Rinaldelli Tommaso Rondinella Daniela Rossi Miria Savioli Elisabetta Segre Marina Signore Alessandro Solipaca Francesca Tartamella Claudio Vicarelli

Findings in brief of Bes 2013 report by Cnel and Istat on Equitable and Sustainable Wellbeing in Italy: the most important elements within the twelve domains of citizens’ wellbeing and a summarising table of current trends.

EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WELLBEING IN ITALY

SUMMARY

Segretario Adolfo Morrone, Istat

Coadiutori di segreteria Sara Demofonti, Istat Carla De Nisco, Istat