L’indebitamento e la vulnerabilità finanziaria delle famiglie nelle regioni italiane (Households’ Indebtedness and Financial Vulnerability in the Italian Regions)

Abstract

This paper depicts – from a variety of viewpoints – the degree of indebtedness and potential financial vulnerabilities of households across the Italian regions. Micro-data from several sources suggest that the financial situation of Italian households shows striking differences at geographical level; some of these differences have partly faded in recent years, whereas under other respects no substantial convergence can be detected. The recent evolution has been heterogeneous for the different socio-demographic classes (income quartiles, citizenship, age of the head, etc.), owing to both demand factors from the part of the households, and supply policies from the part of the banks; the latter in particular changed after the inception of the economic and financial crisis.