Retiring in Italy
It’s good to be old in Italy – retiring in Italy
A few months ago Istat (National Statistics Bureau of Italy) announced that we have oldest population in Europe and the second oldest in the world after Japan. for every 10 people aged 15 and under, there are 14 aged over 65, or in other words one person in four is aged over 60. The reasons for this include low birthrate – 1.35 children per family, and ever increasing life expectancies – 88.8 years for women and 83.3 for men. And it’s a good life for our third agers. They are respected, they get discounts at restaurants, are given priority in supermarket queues, and most get a pension that exceeds the salary of many wage earners.
We are literally surrounded by our older generations and there are pros and cons to this. On the motorway they are the ones on the middle lane doing 90km/h. On weekends they mingle at the Case del Popolo for a pizza with other over60 friends.
It is good to be retired in Italy.
They are generally financially sound and not dependant on their children. Banks love to put their hands on their monthly pensions. They comfortably spend their weekdays reading newspapers, strolling leisurely in the parks licking their favorite ice cream, and are completely addicted to TV. On weekends, they usually spend time playing with the children, and the grandchildren. It is a happy situation, indeed.
They are criticised for wielding so much power. Italy is basically run by old people, who innately nurture a lot of resistance to change, makes it more difficult to bring in the much-needed reforms in the country. According to the critics, when the elderly make laws, they safeguard their own interests rather than promote the interests of the younger generation.
In fact it is interesting to note that an 74years old person is the leader of the senate, and an 82 year old as the President. The Prime Minister was born before the World War II. 36% members of the lower house of Parliament are over 60 years.
We also have the The Pensioners’ Party (Partito Pensionati) found in 1987 and on last elections of 2006, the party joined “L’Unione”, the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi, and was decisive for the result of the 2006 general election (the PP scored 0.9% and the centre-left won by a 0.1% margin).
Whatever the current changing trends be, it is true that presently the senior citizens in Italy are definitely the privileged generation. They enjoy a special position, social security, and essential comforts of life that they deserve at their age. No wonder, Italians abroad are often heard saying, ‘When I get old and retire, I will be moving back to Italy.”
As far as health care is concerned, Italy ranks among the World Health Organization’s top 10 countries for quality health services, which is very important for many people considering a retirement in Italy. Italy has a national health plan (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale), which provides for hospital and medical benefits for free for the elderly and let’s not forget hat Italian pensions .