Young people work less and earn less

Young people work less and earn less. This is a summary of what emerges from the 2024 INPS Annual Report. With an average annual salary in 2023 of almost 26 thousand euros for employees (public and private, excluding domestic workers and agricultural workers), those under 30 earn just over 14 thousand euros, so just over half; furthermore, in this age group, public employees earn about 6-7 thousand euros more than their peers in the private sector.

INPS explains that in absolute terms, the gap between the salary of a young person under 30 and the average total value is maximum for a full-time worker with employment continuity in the year (gap of 11 thousand euros), minimum for a part-time and discontinuous worker in the year (gap of 1,800 euros); in relative terms, however, it is maximum among full-time workers and minimum among part-time workers, regardless of the characteristics of continuity/discontinuity in the year. In short, “young people work less and earn less (also in terms of daily salary and – by estimate – also hourly salary).

But in the last period (five years) their relative positions have not deteriorated at all, on the contrary: greater variations compared to other age groups are recorded both in the absolute number and in wages”. For example, explains the INPS, among full-time workers up to 29 years of age the variation in the average annual wage (effective) between 2019 and 2023 is equal to +8.4% compared to the value of +6.6% for all ages.