Italian school staff face declining purchasing power

The National Coordination of Human Rights Discipline Teachers (CNDDU) has called upon Minister Valditara to address the economic hardships faced by permanent and temporary teachers, as well as ATA staff, who work away from their primary residences. The group highlights the significant loss of purchasing power in Italian wages due to inflation.

Data indicates that while employment has grown, Italian salaries have lost nearly 10% of their purchasing power. OECD figures show that although real wages grew by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous year, they remained 6.1% lower than in the first quarter of 2021, representing the widest gap among major OECD economies.

Compounding these issues are delays in collective bargaining. According to Istat, as of June 2026, all economic portions of public administration contracts had expired, affecting approximately 2.8 million employees. The average waiting time for contract renewals in the public sector was reported at 18 months.