Behind Bars

With soaring prices in major cities and no real housing policy, home has become the new symbol of inequality In Italy, having a home remains a universal aspiration, yet the state invests far too little to address the housing emergency. Fear of appearing to help immigrants or municipalities run by “opposing” political coalitions has stalled any meaningful action. The housing plan announced by Giorgia Meloni will only work if it truly delivers affordable student housing and public units—projects that have been stalled since the old Fanfani plan. Housing is fundamentally an issue of equality, mobility, and social cohesion. And it needs to be treated as such.

The exodus of doctors and nurses, the emergency room crisis, and the forgotten lesson of the pandemic People are living longer, but the inequality in aging is growing. There are increasing disparities in longevity and the chances of having a long, healthy life, influenced by income, occupation, and place of birth. Meanwhile, young people are facing rising levels of depression. Italy’s universal healthcare system faces significant challenges. During the pandemic, we received nearly 200 billion euros from Europe. It was expected that we would use these substantial resources to prepare for these challenges. Instead, emergency medicine is in a constant state of crisis, with shortages of doctors in many specialties and an even greater shortage of nurses. With the Recovery and Resilience National Plan, we have taken on an additional 123 billion euros of debt and have no more funds for healthcare. Despite this, there are still many improvements that can be made even with limited resources.