PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
QUICKLY IMPROVING THE ECONOMY
Italy’s awfull economy hurts us all of us. The cost of groceries, electricity, and housing go up every day but our salaries stay the same so it is difficult to have money left over for opportunities for our children, restaurants, soccer games, entertainment and cinema.
In the last 10 years a million young adults, mostly between the ages of 25-34, left Italy to find jobs in other countries. Ten million families have been torn, and we spent billions of euros to educate 10 million Italians who are now contributing to other countries.
It only takes common sense to understand that to improve an economy, the government needs to invest money into private businesses like manufacturing and farming, and public infrastructure like healthcare, education and public transportation. Those investments will quickly create thousands of good-paying jobs.
We are constantly being told by political leaders that Italy doesn’t have the money to invest in our economy while governments in other countries have invest a small amount of money to create new, good-paying jobs and to provide low cost electricity. The Moroccan government only contributed 2% of the cost to build Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, the world’s largest solar farm. The Moroccan solar plant created 13,000 new, good-paying jobs and is generating enough cheap electricity to provide power to Salerno, Giugliano in Campania, Torre del Greco, Pozzuoli, and Casoria
13.5 BILLION BRIDGE TO SICILY
Spending 13.5 billion euros to build the Messina Bridge that will link Italy to Sicily is unnecessary and shockingly overpriced. Turkey’s Çanakkale suspension bridge was completed in 2022, has a total length of 4606 meters which is 1/3 longer than the Messina Bridge and cost 2.5 billion euros to build which is 11 billion euros less than the Messina Bridge. Our government tells us that the Messina Bridge will add 100,000 new jobs but the Çanakkale Bridge created only 5,000 new jobs. The government’s claim of 100,000 new jobs is an insult to our intelligence because our postal service has a total of 120,000 employees.
If 13.5 billion euros was instead invested in education, every one of our 31,582 public primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools would receive 414,000 euros to pay teachers more, buy up-to-date teaching materials and equipment, and renovate decaying school buildings.
HEALTHCARE
Our healthcare system has absurdly long wait times to be seen by a doctor, outdated diagnostic and curative equipment, a shortage of qualified doctors and nurses and crumbling hospital buildings. The refusal of our political leaders to invest money into our healthcare has resulted in a healthcare system that worsens every year and also passes up the opportunity to create thousands of new, good-paying jobs by hiring more doctors and nurses, increase jobs in manufacturers’ businesses because of the increased demand for modern healthcare equipment, and the new, good-paying jobs by construction companies to renovate our hospitals and clinics.
EDUCATION
The purpose of education is to help our children learn, grow intellectually and eventually contribute to our economy. For decades, Italy’s public school system has failed our children. We have the 3rd largest EU economy, yet teacher’s salaries are second from the bottom of all EU countries, our schools our using outdated textbooks, computers and other equipment, class sizes are too large to provide students with individual attention, and school buildings are becoming more dilapidated every year. Without significant investment in our education system, we will continue to fail our children by not providing a real chance to have a happy future.
YOUNG ADULTS: UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW SALARIES, HIGH COST OF LIVING
Are you a young adult unable to find a job that pays you enough money to have a social life, get married, start a family, stop living in your parent’s home or go to restaurants or cinema? Are you a university student who can’t afford housing?
The average unemployment rate of 15-29-year old Italians living in EU countries is 12% while Italy’s unemployment rate for 15-29-year olds is an embarrassing 16%, second worst of all EU countries. Due to runaway costs for housing and food, many young Italians live with daily financial anxiety and see no possibility for a better financial future. To change the financial situation of young adults our political leaders to wisely invest in public infrastructure like health care and education and manufacturing companies and farms to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs.
GENDER PAY GAP
Women employed in privately owned companies earn 21% less than male colleagues for the same job. Wage discrimination means that families have less money to spend on food, housing, opportunities for children, entertainment, and women receive lower monthly retirement payments than men. Private companies are required to provide the government with a report every year detailing the salary difference of women compared to men doing the same job. There has been no effort by the government to audit those annual reports and fine companies that are causing unequal payment to women.
CLIMATE CHANGE
In 2024, droughts, floods and fires cost Italy 140 billion euros to rebuild houses, apartment and commercial buildings, and lost revenue mostly by farmers. In order to fight climate change, the government must invest in companies that produce clean energy with solar panels, batteries, wind and hydroelectric power systems. Our political leaders falsely tell us that the government doesn’t have money to invest in companies that manufacture items that fight climate change, reduces pollution, an creates clean energy when in fact it can cost little or no money.
There is are 1,800 acres solar farm in the U.S. that is generating enough electricity for a city the size of Turin. The U.S. government’s investment is a 10% tax credit on the profits of the solar farm company in exchange for the solar farm buying solar panels from U.S. manufacturers. The 10% tax credit costs the U.S. government nothing because solar panel manufacturers will pay taxes on their profits and hire more employees who will pay taxes. Southern Italy has thousands and thousands of unused hectares that could be used to build a large solar farm that would cost the Italian government nothing and provide cheap electricity to Italians.
VIOLENCE
AGAINST
WOMEN
31% of Italian women have suffered physical and/or sexual violence. It is appalling that in 2025 the government has still not enacted a femicide law that would automatically imprison men found guilty of violence against women. No national femicide law leaves us with relying on police to enforce other weaker violence laws.
In addition to electing new political leaders to enact a femicide law and pressure politicians to enforce existing laws, we can take steps in our own lives to reduce violence against women in the future:
• Make men understand that even if women in their lives have not yet experienced violence, it is 31% likely that their daughters will experience violence
• Teach the next generation by example and conversation about consent, bodily autonomy and accountability
• Support activists who are working every day to bring violence against women to the attention of lawmakers, police and the general public
RETIREMENT
With one of the oldest populations in the world and a low birth rate, Italy has too few workers to support the pension payments to retirees. The 2025 government budget increases retirement payments by an average of 1.8 euros per month. To boost the number of workers necessary to support retirement payments, Italians need to have more babies who will grow up, get jobs and pay taxes. That can only happen if the government provides affordable daycare so that women can enter the workforce and contribute towards retirement payments.
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
Lifestyles other than heterosexual are documented as far back as 4,000 years ago, yet deeply ingrained societal norms, religious beliefs, personal fears, lack of understanding, and negative stereotypes still make possible despicable discrimination in Italy. LGBTQ discrimination has a severe, negative impact on those discriminated against leading to increased stress, mental health issues like anxiety and depression, and even physical health problems, as well as impacting relationships, employment, and overall well-being. One of the most heartbreaking effects of LGBTQ discrimination is denying same-sex couples the right to adopt and provide a good home to one of the 12,000 children living in foster homes.
FAILURE
TO PAY TAXES
Evaluations show that 27% of Italians don’t pay income taxes which in 2024 reduced the amount of taxes paid by 106 billion euros. 106 billion euros could greatly improve our healthcare, educational, pension and transportation systems. Lax enforcement of tax laws is primarily due to political parties that afraid to lose the votes of those not paying income taxes.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST LAWS
A conflict of interest is when a politician has a financial interest in a private business and makes decisions like awarding government contracts to increase the profits of the business in which he has a financial interest. Of the 28 EU countries only Austria, Hungary and Italy do not have conflict of interest laws. There are more than 100 politicians in Italy who have documented conflicts of interest and many more at all levels of government whose conflict of interest in not known because the financial interest is in the name of someone other than the politician.