Some 20 million Italians are underpaid and average Italian salaries are ''among the lowest in Europe, Rome-based think-thank Eurispes said in a new report.
Eurispes said average Italian salaries were 10% lower than in Germany, 20% lower than in the UK and 25% lower than in France.
In order to make ends meet, some six million Italians work two jobs, the second one being illegal, according to Eurispes.
Italian households need to illegally add a monthly sum of 1,300 euro ($1,914) to their budget in order to get by, it said.
Some 5.1 million households in the country are considered poor or at risk of poverty, the think-thank adds.
Meanwhile, debts increased by 9.9% in the first six months of 2007 year-on-year. The rise was mainly due to the increased house loans and consumer loans that jumped 17.6% between the first half of 2006 and the same period of 2007, the research said.
