Italian pensioners gather in Rome to protest low allowance
MAX Civili
Press TV, Rome
Tens of thousands of pensioners from across Italy reached the Italian capital by train and bus on Saturday to stage an anti-government rally dubbed "We are not invisible."
The initiative, held in Rome's iconic Circus Maximus park area, had been called by Italy's three major trade unions: CGIL, CISL, and UIL, to draw the Democratic Party and the 5SM coalition government's attention to the fact that pension payments have not been adjusted to the cost of living for over seven years.
There are some 16 million pensioners in Italy, six million of whom get less than 1,000 euros a month. According to the European statistical agency Eurostat, two in three Italians under 35 still live with their parents, with the phenomenon being more prevalent among young men.
Demographic trends show Italy’s population will shrink dramatically in the coming years to the point where in 2050, the country will have more pensioners than workers. The head of the national pensions agency has provocatively proposed to let more migrant workers in to help pay for the nation's growing number of pensioners.
Declining fertility rates combined with longer life expectancy has left the country with a significantly older population. Most of the more than five million Italians currently living abroad left their home country in the past 10 years. Italy will have to soon review its national retirement policy for the sustainability of the pension system.
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