Youth and female unemployment: a critical issue for inner areas in Puglia (Italy). needs and opportunities in the silver economy age

Abstract

The National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) represents an Italian national policy for development and cohesion on a territorial basis. Its methodology makes it possible to classify Italian municipalities according to their accessibility to essential services (health, education, mobility), as well as providing a reference grid on which differentiated policies can be developed for territories. The National Institute of Statistics have already shown that the population of inner areas is on average older; also, the old-age index is significantly higher. In addition, the inner areas have also suffered a heavy demographic decline, especially in the South of the country. In this paper, the author uses SNAI's taxonomy to look not at demographic indices, but at two other social phenomena that also heavily impact the demographic ageing of these areas: youth and female unemployment. I focus on Apulian municipalities. Usually, these phenomena are considered in their negative side-effect also because they pose a severe challenge to the sustainability of welfare and health systems, in terms of public budgets, workforce, competitiveness and quality of life, whereas the objective of the paper is to open up greater awareness of the opportunities that the silver economy can bring, especially for decision-makers in the territories most at risk of ageing and depopulation.