Common language and dialects
No social life without sharing language! Although many young Italians will be able to give you information in English, French is spoken in Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Liguria. Because of its geographical position, Trentino-Alto Adige, which is perfectly bilingual (German-Italian), also uses words of Arabic (ragazzo, magazzino) or Germanic origin (albergo, banca, guardia, sapone). Charles V, who used to joke, said that we speak to God in Spanish, to men in French and to women in Italian! It is indeed one of the most melodious Latin languages. As a literary idiom, it did not appear until the 12th century. For centuries, the aristocracy and writers preferred to speak Latin, Provençal or French. At the end of the 13th century, Marco Polo wrote his Book of Wonders(Il Milione) in Franco-Venetian. Little by little, thanks to Dante, Boccaccio or Petrarch, a common language will be structured with the contribution of the Tuscan dialect. From the 16th century onwards, the Italian Renaissance fascinated French writers, and borrowings from the Italian language multiplied. In the 19th century, the late unification (Risorgimento) kept in mind the regional dialects, which will resist until today, despite the standardization of education and the media's new language. We still speak Genoese, Roman, Neapolitan, Sardinian or Sicilian! Occitan, Provençal (Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Liguria) or Slovenian (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) are more rarely spoken...
With a literacy rate of around 98%, the level of Italian education is comparable to that of Germany or France. Free and compulsory up to the age of 16, public school runs from kindergarten (3 to 5 years old) to primary school (10 years old), up to the equivalent of the French collège, controlled at the end of the school year by an important exam, equivalent to the ex-BEPC. In high school, students can choose between scientific, literary or artistic studies. The examination called maturità corresponds to the French baccalaureate. The university system is divided into two cycles of five years in total. After the first three years, a laurea breve (license) is obtained. Then it takes two more years for a laurea specialistica (master).
Family is sacred!
In general, family ties are stronger than in any other Western European country, especially in southern Italy. The family, "is the only homeland", wrote Leonardo Sciascia; the ultimate refuge that prevails over important values such as work, the country....
If the man remains the head of the patriarchal family, the guardian figure is the mamma. For an Italian, the mamma e tutto, his whole life, his past, his present, his future... to the point of caricature. We even talk about mammismo, an immoderate attachment to the mother by an adult or, conversely, coming from the mother, an overprotection of her child, even as an adult. See Pasolini's film Mamma Roma (1962) on this subject.
In rural areas, three generations often live together under the same family roof. Tanguy 1, the film by Etienne Chatiliez, was severely criticized, even censored in Italy. The story of this thirty-year-old man still living with his parents, who are doing everything they can to get him to leave home, is not popular. It is not surprising that "big boys" stay with their mamma or get married and move a few minutes away from the family home.
For a long time, boys were given a privileged status, chaperoning their sisters. But things are changing. Today, girls and boys receive the same education. The authority of fathers and brothers is cracking, and intra-family power relations are tending to flatten out.
Marriage remains a high point for the whole family, but weddings are being scheduled later and later, which delays the arrival of children and has an impact on the birth rate. Nine out of ten couples marry in church and common-law unions are not the rule. The family, like the Church, which has lost its influence, intervenes less frequently in the affairs of the couple, especially in divorce, authorized since 1970, or abortion, decriminalized since 1978.
Generally, Italians are sociable people. They like to spend time with others, have a drink (aperitivo) or eat together, at home or out. In Italy, the tradition of eating well is no small matter! The well-kept reputation of being a gastronomic country is well exported. Breakfast (colazione) with espresso or cappuccino is often taken at the café-bar until 11am, then comes lunch (pranzo) in a small neighborhood restaurant (trattoria) or at home between 12:30pm and 2pm. After the inevitable aperitivo at the end of the day, dinner (cena), from 7:30 to 9:30 pm, has a special place in the home. If you go to a restaurant, you will take care to change your clothes in order to look elegant (bella figura) and, on sunny days, you will end the day with a little digestive walk (passeggiata).
To stay in shape, Northern Italians practice walking, hiking, cycling, skiing, mountaineering, spa treatments and gymnastics (nella palestra). If health is important, according to the adage mens sana in corpore sano, so is the quest for the perfect body! At all hours, even late at night, the gyms in town are full. The other collective passion, from Naples to Milan, from Turin to Palermo, is soccer, of course, calcio, the good kick. Support for a club remains a strong social and territorial marker.
Work as a cardinal virtue
The first article of the Italian Constitution states that "Italy is a democratic republic founded on work". As the foundation of the social pact and a means of self-fulfillment, work is blessed by the Pope himself, who regularly addresses business leaders. Factories, plants and small and medium-sized businesses are often family businesses that are passed on from generation to generation. Italians are launching innovative projects, multiplying local businesses, crafts, culture, design, catering, etc., all sectors linked to tourism, which are crucial for the national economy.
After two complicated years linked to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis have impacted Italian growth. GDP reached 3.9% in 2022, mainly thanks to public investment and household consumption. Growth is expected to slow down in the coming years and the IMF fears a return to recession, based on slower implementation of investments, high inflation and therefore a drop in purchasing power.
The worrying unemployment rate (9.7% in 2023) rises to 23.9% among young people, which confirms the fact that many of them stay with their parents after 18 years or leave the country. During the last five years, about 150,000 young graduates have moved to countries where the salary level is higher (Northern Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). This is compounded by the inability to attract young foreign talent or to establish effective systems of professional education, resulting in a shortage of skilled workers in several sectors, including the health sector.
A disparate health and pension system
Like the French, Italians are covered by public health insurance, which guarantees health for all as a fundamental right. Its performance is good, as evidenced by a higher life expectancy at birth than the OECD average and lower mortality. However, as in many countries, the Italian health system has shortcomings. Created in 1978 by the consolidation of scattered units, the health care system is struggling to keep up with the 40% of the population who suffer from chronic diseases. Emergency services are severely understaffed and it takes a lot of patience to get to a specialist. The country has 3.1 million people with disabilities and a high proportion of elderly people. The health crisis has highlighted the structural difficulties. In the post-Covid national recovery plan, the Health mission (20 billion euros) has several priorities: limiting disparities between regions, strengthening territorial health care and creating medico-social health centers, modernizing hospitals and their equipment, developing digital technology, and increasing home care for patients.
A topical issue in France, the problem of pensions is also a topical issue for Italians, who are retiring even later! The legal retirement age is 67. You can retire early without a pension reduction from the age of 64. But the ageing of the population is weighing on public finances and on the financing of pensions. The pension of Italian retirees is calculated in proportion to the contributions paid throughout their career. It is indexed to life expectancy; women's pensions are only 60% of those received by men.
Gender equality and respect for differences
The situation is evolving around gender equality, not all women are stay-at-home mothers. They find new functions. Parity applies more in the public service than in the private sector. The wage/hour gap between men and women is relatively small compared to the European average, but it exists. The gap between men's and women's salaries is relatively small compared to the European average, but it does exist: very much under control among civil servants, it is 17% lower for women in the private sector. The same applies to the unemployment rate, which affects men less (6.8%) than women (9.2%). In addition to this, family obligations often lead them to interrupt their professional careers, in particular because of the high costs of childcare or paying for care for the elderly.
In Italy, the #MeToo movement has not exploded in the media or in culture as it has in France. However, some women have decided to come out of silence to denounce harassment, especially in the entertainment industry.
Bastal'omertà! This is also what the LGBT community is calling for. Homosexuality was for a long time a taboo subject in Italy and gays were forced to hide. Today, they are better accepted. In a macho society, under strong Catholic influence, marriage for all is only accepted at the town hall; no church ceremony. This civil union law was passed in May 2016. Similar to the PACS in France, it allows a gay couple to enjoy the same rights as a straight couple on inheritance, retirement, housing, etc. The adoption of a child by a same-sex partner is possible, but no question of PMA/GPA. The Arcigay association, based in Bologna, federates all these claims and actively fights against any form of violence or discrimination against LGBT people (solidarity, human and civil rights).
