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The Coronavirus Pandemic and Inequality in Italy

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The Coronavirus Pandemic and Inequality

Part of the book series: Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution ((GPWD))

Abstract

Italy was the first European country to be hard hit by the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic. The country has a long history of disparities in wealth, health and socio-economic development between the Northern and the Central/Southern regions. The COVID-19 outbreak was higher in the richest areas of Italy, but the whole country suffered from increasing socio-economic and health inequalities. Existing health inequalities were exascerbated: mortality rates were higher for men than for women, widening the gender-based life expectancy gap. They were also higher among the elderly, particularly those living in care homes. However, the incidence of mental health conditions, and the demand for mental health care, is increasing, particularly among the younger generations.

We find that the pandemic had a negative impact on access to healthcare, especially for some types of services. Regions with a higher per capita income and lower income inequality experienced lower reductions in access to specialized services. We find evidence of worsening inequalities in health and access to healthcare for some fragile population groups, the elderly and the migrants.

We conclude that the pandemic highlighted the urgent need to address both pre-existing and newly emerging forms of socioeconomic inequaliy. The next generation European Union funds and the linked national recovery and resilience public investment are targeted to foster economic growth and overcome the structural, geographic, socio-economic and health divide in Italy. The success of this will depend on the effectiveness of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, on the capacity to improve public investment governance, and on the post-pandemic growth the country will experience.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Margherita Giannoni

  2. Department of Embeds, Management and Health Lab, Institute of Management, Sant’Anna Advanced School of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Margherita Giannoni, Milena Vainieri & Sabina Nuti

  3. Business School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Iris M. Bosa

  4. Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK

    Adriana Castelli

  5. Population Health Science Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

    Michele Castelli

  6. SDA Bocconi School of Management, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy

    Oriana Ciani

  7. Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy

    Simone Ghislandi

  8. Department of Juridical and Economic Studies, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Giorgia Marini

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  1. Margherita Giannoni
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Correspondence to Margherita Giannoni .

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  1. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

    Shirley Johnson-Lans

Appendix

Appendix

Table A1 Life expectancy and income inequality in Italian regions
Full size table
Table A2 Regional hospitalizations variations during the pandemic and income inequality
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Giannoni, M. et al. (2023). The Coronavirus Pandemic and Inequality in Italy. In: Johnson-Lans, S. (eds) The Coronavirus Pandemic and Inequality. Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22219-1_5

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