Some 50% of Italian families live on just over 1,850 euros a month, while the average family income in Italy is 2,340 euros, according to a study by national statistics bureau Istat.
Based on data from 2004, Istat calculated that while the average annual family income was 28,078 euros, 62% of Italian families earned less than that and 50% had an income of less than 22,353 euros.
In a related study, Istat found that 14.7% of Italian families in 2005 had great difficulty making it to the end of the month on what they earned and 28.9% claimed they would be unable to meet an unexpected expense of 600 euros.
According to Istat, families in the south and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia had the greatest problems living on their earnings with 22.8% having trouble making it to the end of the month and 42.5% (50.5% in Sicily) unable to deal with an unexpected expense of 600 euros.
