Young Italians find a hero
Thousands download an internet novel highlighting the plight of the ?1,000-a-month workers
Barbara McMahon in Rome
Sunday January 29, 2006
A novel published free on the internet has become a surprise hit in Italy, downloaded by thousands of young people who identify with the main character struggling to survive on a monthly salary of 1,000 euros.
It tells the story of Claudio, a 27-year-old university graduate who works as an account manager at a multinational firm in Milan that makes gadgets for mobile phones, and tries to have a happy life despite being constantly broke and unsure about the future.
Striking a chord with a whole generation of Italians who are in a similar situation, the book is called Generazione 1000 Euro and has been written by two young journalists, Antonio Incorvaia and Alessandro Rimassa. Both in their thirties, they claim Claudio represents millions of young people, not just in Italy but all over Europe, who feel that they are 'unseen and undervalued'.
The pair claim this disaffected section of society is not those straight out of school or university who have yet to climb the career ladder, but under-35s who have completed further education and have been employed for years. Nor are they all stuck in dead-end jobs.
'Many of them have prestigious and trendy positions, in the media, event management and marketing," says Rimassa. 'They have responsibility and pressures, but hardly any money.'
The men based the book on their own experiences and those of their friends and say that despite the economic difficulties facing their generation, the under-35s are not willing to give up the good things in life. Although financially restricted, they still enjoy parties, travelling and going out with their friends. They have found ways to make the best of what they have by living low-cost lives.
A survey of 1,600 people carried out by the left-leaning economic and social studies institute IRES, along with Italy's biggest trade union Cgil, reported this week that 89.2 per cent of the 17-24 age group earned under 1,000 euros a month along with 64.9 per cent of those in the 25-32 age group. It also revealed that 70 per cent of female workers questioned earned below a thousand euros a month.The survey also showed that 87 per cent of Italians under the age of 24 work on short-term contracts, as well as 53.5 per cent of Italians in the 25-32-year age group.
Left, right, or center - what the authors of Generazione 1000 EURO are writing about is true. Young Italians are notoriously under paid in comparison to say, the UK, or the United States. As a personal reference, while I was IN university, I made, part time, selling cosmetics in a department store located on Long Island, $1,000 a month. That job didn't even require a degree and it was back in 1988! Decent good paying entry level jobs are next to impossible to find in Italy. Trying to get a leg up into the work force for students just out of university can be a crushing experience. I could get into some of the reasons I believe this happens, but this a friendly blog and I would like to keep it that way. I don't want to get into the labor laws that stifle the labor market ( you just can't fire someone, even if they don't do their job) or the fact "students", meaning people under a certain age, can be hired at lower than average salaries to be given the opportunity to gain "work experience" and then be let go to when they "out grow" the job and there is a hoard of "students" waiting to take their place.
But hey, I am sure this online novel is very good. For my Italian readers click here and download the novel and read it for yourself. And wow, if they are getting noticed outside of Italy, these guys are on the way to success! Maybe one day it will be translated because I would love to read it, I bet you would too!
A tardi!
Krista
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