52.5 billion thirteenths are about to arrive in the pockets of Italians with an increase of 1.2 on 2024 but only one in two will use it for gifts, while the share of those who allocate it to savings and obligatory expenses is growing. This is what emerges from an Ipsos Confesercenti survey on the use of the additional monthly payment, arriving for around 36 million Italian pensioners and employees. The survey data show a double dynamic, almost “like an Aesop’s fable”: many Italians behave like cicadas and concentrate an important part of Christmas on the thirteenth, but the numbers of ants are also increasing, that is, those who choose to protect themselves by allocating a portion to savings and non-deferrable expenses.
How will Italians use the thirteenth?
The main expenditure item remains “classic” Christmas: 50% indicate gifts as a priority destination, with a peak in the South (59%). Alongside gifts, they account for other holiday expenses (22%) and travel (23%). But the prudential component is also growing: 31% will use the thirteenth month to increase savings and 20% will allocate it to bills and arrears. This line of caution is accompanied by other obligatory expenses and budget management items: 11% will use it to pay mortgages or loans and 14% for health. There are also non-negligible quotas of “functional” use: 21% indicate expenses for the house, 18% other purchases of goods or services and 9% would allocate it to investments. Even the balances are already part of the plans: 27% foresee purchases in January using resources from the thirteenth. Finally, a share of 5% declare that they have not yet decided. “The thirteenth – explains Confesercenti – holds two Italys together: the one that starts the end-of-year expenses and the one who tries to put the accounts in order. It is a clear signal: the increase in employment alone is not enough if real incomes remain compressed and work, both dependent and self-employed, continues to impoverish. To restart consumption in a stable way, we need to accelerate the recovery of purchasing power, reducing the tax burden and supporting quality bargaining.”