Back on the 29th May, Epolis, one of my favourite freebie newspapers here in rainy Milan, ran an article on how much the average Italian found in his or her pay packet in 2007. I kept a copy of the newspaper because I thought a few of you might be interested in seeing this information in English, so here goes:
All sums are in Euros and are after the tax man has had his nibble.
- Manual Workers: Italy – 12, 589 UK – 16,858
- Office Workers: Italy – 17,388 UK – 24,057
- Middle Managers: Italy – 40,214 UK – 55,779
- Senior Managers: Italy – 102,313 UK – 131,139
Apparently 50% of Italian families manage to survive, just about, on less than €1,900 a month.
Poor Italy, except you would not think so from seeing all the BMW X5’s buzzing around Milan.
The original source of the information above was Italy’s Istat statistics bureau.
tt says
come to Hungary our monthly minimum wage is 257 Euros
AlexR says
@Cherrye – no, I don’t know where the cash for the flash cars comes from – it must come from somewhere though…
@Cara Jo – Oh, Italians are into leasing too. The big cars are often paid for by the company, and lots of tax is deducted.
There are both smoke and mirrors in Italy.
All the best to you both,
Alex
Cara Jo says
I take it that Milan isn’t like Washington, DC:
Everyone drives expensive cars, but no one OWNS expensive cars. The only way they afford them is by leasing. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Cherrye at My Bella Vita says
Amazing, isn’t it Alex? The salaries are even worse down here in Calabria! I dont know how they drive those cars, either!
AlexR says
Hi Andy,
As you will know, Milan is full of Senior Managers! Probably there are more senior managers per square metre in Milan than in any other city in Italy!
Cheers,
Alex
Andy says
Ah, but, these cars are all owned by Senior Managers!