The Eurispes report photographs the thoughts of citizens, confidence in institutions grows

The latest Eurispes Italy report has been published, referring to 2024, entitled “Italy at the crossroads” in which the Italian Research Institute photographs the ideas of citizens, including the measurement of citizens' trust in institutions. Below are some extracts from the report

Trust in institutions

Probably motivated by a redesign need for security in a context uncertain like the current one, Citizen confidence is increasing again but it is expressed, with more than half the consensus, in particular for certain institutions only: the President of the Republic, the forces of order and police, the armed forces and intelligence. At their side: the Church, School, Health, Civil Protection and associations.

THE President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarellagarners a broad consensus in terms of confidence expressed by citizens in it (60.8%; +8.6% compared to 2023).

THE Parliament shows a slight increase in confidence (from 30% in 2023 to 33.6% in 2024), but disappointed citizens remain in the majority (58%). Citizens are divided on their opinion regarding the Judicial: 47% say they are confident compared to 44% of those who are not Regional Presidents (appreciated in 41.2% and “failed” in 47.4% of cases).

They express their consent with regard to the Government a little more than a third of Italians (36.2%), but the discouraged remain in the majority (55.4%). Among the other institutions, public and private, whose level of confidence increases from year to year, we find: Catholic Church (52.1%), the School (66%), the Sanitary system (58.3%). Confidence increases Consumer associations (from 46% to 48.1%) without however reaching half of the positive opinions as is also the case for the Public administration (from 39.6% to 44.4%) and for Entrepreneur associations (from 39% to 46%). The most decisive leap forward was recorded for the Civil protection with 78.5% (69.9% in 2023). The result obtained byUniversity (from 64.9% to 71.8%), and by Associations operating in Volunteering (from 60.6% to 68.7%).

I am fair there are three institutions that suffer from a decline in consensus compared to 2023: I evenings which range from a confidence of 32.5% to 29.8%, I unions which decreased slightly from 43.1% to 42.7% and the others religious denominations different from the Catholic (from 38% to 34.5%).

Police

In 2024, we find ourselves very high in the ranking of PoliceL'Weapon of Carabinieri which, reaching 68.8% of the consensus granted by the Italians, recovers, compared to 2023, by 16 percentage points and returns to results closer to those of 2019 and 2020. Financial policy: from 55.1% of the consensus in 2023 to 66.1% in 2024 (+10%). Likewise, the State Police obtains 10.7% more votes, going from 52.8% in 2023 to 63.5% in 2024.

Regarding the Defensethe appreciation of Italians for theitalian army increases from 64.3% in 2023 to 69.4% in 2024 (+5.1%). L'aviation increases by almost 10 points (from 64% to 73.7%), the Marine by 6.4% (from 67.5% to 73.9%). OUR Intelligence garners a consensus equal to 62.8% of responses and advances by 7.3 percentage points compared to 2023.

Regarding the other bodies, who recently participated in the survey, we find at the top i Firefighters with a very high confidence rate (84.1%). There coast guard reached 71.8% of the votes. Confidence in the company is also increasing again Prison police from 53.4% ​​of the consensus in 2023 to 59.5% in 2024. While for the The local police a limited increase was highlighted: from 53.2% to 54.3%.

Perception of the economic situation

Comparing the results with previous findings from Euripes, compared to last year, we see a slight improvement in some indicators of the economic situation of Italian families. However, there remains a part of the population who finds themselves faced with difficult situations such as not being able to make ends meet without major difficulties (57.4%). Bills (33.1%), rent (45.5%) and mortgage payments (32.1%) are also an issue for many families. On the other hand, the prices of consumer goods are increasing according to 83% of Italians and this trend is forcing them to find ways to make ends meet. Help is mainly requested from the family of origin (32.1%) and installment purchases are widely used (42.7%), certain services such as academic support, babysitting, etc. are paid illegally. (33.6%) and almost 3 in 10 Italians forgo dental treatments/interventions or medical check-ups.

The majority of Italians (55.5%) believe that the country's economic situation has deteriorated over the last year., for 18.6% the situation remained stable, while only one in ten Italians (10%) indicated signs of improvement. 15.6% did not know or did not want to answer. Looking at the the future, citizens are rather cautious: for 33.2% the Italian economic situation will remain stable in the next twelve months. Pessimists, who expect a worsening, are 31.6%, while 10.8% expect a period of economic growth.. However, 40.9% of citizens declare that their personal and family economic situation has remained stable over the last 12 months. Although with varying intensity, overall 35.4% of Italians report a deterioration in their economic situation, while 14.2% speak of an improvement.

A little more than one in four manages to save (28.3%), THE 36.8% draw on savings to reach the end of the month.

Faced with economic difficulties, some have resorted to support from friends, colleagues and other family members (17.2%); THE 16% requested a bank loanwhile the 13.6% had to borrow money from individuals (not friends or relatives) with the danger of slipping into the shirts ofwear. Widespread online sale of goods and objects (27.5%). THE 37.6% of Italians had to give up a babysitter and the 24.3% to the caregiver. THE 15.3% had to sell or lose assets such as a house or a commercial/commercial activity.

You buy a lot in several installments (42.7%)often on interest-free online platforms (21.3%). 14.6% rented clothing and accessories for parties or ceremonies, and11.7% returned to live at home with their original family. Because facing medical fees puts in difficulty in 28.3% of casessacrifices also affect health and it is done without specialized visits for specific disorders or pathologies (23.1%)has medical therapies/interventions (17.3%)Atpurchase medicines (15.9%).

In this year's Italy Report, Eurispes wanted to explore, on the one hand, the opinions of Italians on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, on the other hand, the spread and characteristics of anti-Semitic prejudices in our country. In certain cases, it was possible to compare the data with the results from the survey carried out by the Institute in 2004, therefore twenty years later.

Despite a certain caution when speaking of a “fragmented Third World War”, the precariousness and international conflicts worry the Italians.

Defense resources are a point of contention. Most citizens are not confident that the Executive Branch will be able to deal with the complexity of a range of proposed domestic and foreign policy issues, while supporters instead numerically reflect the share of those who declare confidence in this institution. Citizens are saying “no” to the Strait Bridge, the reintroduction of citizenship income and the extension of the Superbonus.
Italians are particularly concerned about: job insecurity (13.8%), I international conflicts (12.8%), the possibility that loved ones get sick (12.5% ​​against 18.1% last year), theincrease in electricity, gas and similar (12.3% against 16.3% in 2023), the possible Italy's involvement in international conflicts (10.2%).

The opinion of Italians on artificial intelligence and social networks, the degree of information (certainly poor) and the perception of the risks associated with these technologies.

33.9% of Italians have a vague idea of ​​what artificial intelligence is and a similar proportion say they know nothing (31.9%). Among the most informed, those who say they know enough (25%) predominate, while only one in ten say they are very informed on the subject (9.2%). The majority of those who say they know something about artificial intelligence, however, say they have never tried it (53.9%). The opinion on AI is generally positive (65.8%), the idea prevails that it is a controllable technology (54.1%) even if dangerous (57.4%) and that it will replace humans (54.2%). Less shared is the opinion according to which we will regret having created it (47.6%). Those who tried using AI did so out of curiosity to see how it worked (72.4%) and for leisure/gaming reasons (63.7%). 46% used it for work and 41.5% for studies.

THE Judgments on social networks are rather harsh: they encourage the dissemination of false news (78.3%); they fuel cyberbullying (73.3%), they propagate bad models of behavior (72.3%); they favor the expression of aggression and verbal violence (69.5%); 66.1% are convinced that they harm social life.

Around one in five respondents have been victims of attacks or insults on social media/online (21.3%) and computer scams (20.7%); 18% have had their privacy violated; victims of false identity are slightly fewer (17.7%); 14.9% experienced identity theft; 14% of cyberharassment and 8.1% were victims of revenge porn.

The Italian diet continues to change, new habits and trends appear, new food consumption takes hold.

7.2% of Italians are vegetarian, followed by 2.3% of those who declare themselves vegan (9.5% in total, compared to 6.6% in 2023). 5% say they have already been vegetarian. Among the advantages of this diet are the feeling of better physical condition (86.4%), the ease of maintaining a healthy weight (73.3%), greater creativity in the kitchen (66.5%). On the other hand, 39.8% regret the flavors of “traditional” foods.

Among the new eating habits are also the increasingly widespread “free” diets.: the most consumed are foods without lactose (30.9%), foods without sugar (25%), without gluten (21%), without yeast (18.3%) and without eggs (13.8%). Those who buy them are mainly those who are not intolerant compared to those who have a certified intolerance.