Fourteenth on the way, but she’s already busy

A push is coming from 12.4 billion euros per i summer consumption. Between June and July, the fourteenth foreseen by employment contracts it will bring new availability into the pockets of the employees who receive it, intended above all for holidays and travel.

But the weight of uncertainty is felt: in fact, the share destined for is also growing savings and back payments. To estimate it is Confessorsbased on the traditional survey conducted with Ipsos on a sample of 800 people between 18 and 65 years old.

How the fourteenth is used

Holidays and travel are the first destination of the fourteenth, indicated by 54.8% of workers who receive it, an increase compared to the 48% recorded last year. The share allocated to savings also rises, from 24 to 29%, and to summer salesfrom 19 to 21.7%. 20.7% will also use the additional monthly payment for home-related expenses, among others renovations, furniture and accessories. However, the weight of the difficulties also increases: 17.5% will use part of the sum to pay for outstanding bills and installmentscompared to 15% in 2025. This is followed by investments (13.4%), health expenses (12.1%), and mortgages or other financing (10.2%). On average, each worker distributes the fourteenth between just over two uses. For this reason the sum of the percentages exceeds 100%.

Immediate boost to summer consumption

The additional availability will be rapidly transferred to the real economy. 69% of earners plan to spend at least 40% of the amount within thirty days of receipt, while over a third, 36.3%, will use at least 60%. Considering the different expenditure ranges declared, approximately half of the fourteenth will therefore be used already in the first month, supporting above all tourism, trade and sales. Furthermore, for 65.3% of workers, the payment between June and July is particularly useful for dealing with summer expenses. Only 6.1% would prefer to receive it in another period of the year, while for 28.7% the moment of disbursement is indifferent.

More caution

Compared to previous years, 23.9% will use a greater share of fourteenth for leisure, holidays and extra purchases. But prudence is also growing: 19.7% will spend less to increase savings, 19.4% will allocate more resources to essential expenses, such as bills, food, mortgages and instalments, and 9.2% will give up travel and holidays or reduce their budget: choices influenced by uncertainty linked to energy price increases and the international situation. However, 27.7% will not change their choices compared to the past.

South and young people

The tensions on budgets are more evident in the southern regions, where 34.3% plan to allocate greater resources to essential expenses, against 17.5% in the North and 9.8% in the Centre. In the Noon Furthermore, the share of those who will use the fourteenth month to pay bills and outstanding installments rises to 23.6%, compared to the 13.3% recorded in the northern regions. Among younger workers, however, there is a greater propensity to build reserves for the future. 36.8% of those under 35 will increase their savings, compared to 25.6% of workers between 35 and 65.

Concrete support

The fourteenth is not only available for discretionary consumption, but continues to perform a protection function family budgets. For 62.4% of earners it allows them to live more peacefully thanks to the additional income, while for 28.3% it allows them to face expenses that would otherwise not be sustainable.

Overall, for over nine out of ten workers the monthly salary has a concrete impact on financial situation. Only 9.2% declare that it does not have a significant impact. “The fourteenth represents an immediate injection of liquidity for the economy. The growth in the share allocated to holidays shows a greater willingness towards summer consumption, but the increase in savings and arrears signals that family budgets remain under pressure. For almost one worker in three, in fact, this monthly payment allows them to face expenses that would otherwise not be sustainable”, comments the president of Confesercenti Nico Gronchi.

“However, it must be remembered that hundreds of thousands of workers do not receive their fourteenth salary because they are employed under dumped contracts, which recognize lower wages and protection compared to the contracts signed by the most representative organisations. To strengthen the purchasing power and support businesses and workers together, we propose to reduce tax on the fourteenth salary for employees and reduce the contribution for companies that recognize it, fully safeguarding social security rights. This would reduce the cost of labor and increase the net amount that reaches the workers’ pockets, transforming a greater portion of the monthly salary into consumption and combating contractual dumping”.