Administrative elections 2021, disabled and elderly people excluded

On Sunday 3 and Monday 4 October the 2021 administrative elections are called, in 1.162 municipalities, but disabled people and the elderly seem systematically excluded from the programs of candidates of all flags.

The demographic structure in Italy and the context of infrastructures and services, however, show the need for greater consideration of a large segment of the population in Italy.

People with disabilities and the elderly in Italy, data and trends

People with disabilities they represent 5,2% of the resident population in Italy, equal to 3,150 million individuals (ISTAT. See note 1). And the Bel Paese stands out - among the 27 EU Member States - both for the incidence and for the trends growing elderly population:

- young people (0-14 years) are at 13%, the lowest share in Europe (15,1% the EU average),

- the average age of adults, 47,2 years, is the highest (43,9 years the average age in the EU),

- the over-65 are 23,2%, at the peak of European statistics (20,6% the EU average figure),

- the over-80 represent 7,4% of the population in Italy (5,9% the EU average).

The EFSA and ECDC's One Health report between people of working age and the elderly it is less than 3 to 1, since retirees represent 36% of workers and unemployed. Another record, Italian (Eurostat. See note 2).

The responsibilities of the Municipalities. Architectural barriers and accessibility

The serious problems to be addressed in order to guarantee the dignity and quality of life of disabled and elderly people are largely the responsibility of state and regional institutions. (3) In addition to the European ones, in turn on the high seas. (4)

Moreover, the 7.904 Italian municipalities have the responsibility of applying a couple of laws that have so far been disregarded by almost all of them, 30 years after their promulgation. With particular regard to:

- architectural barriers. By 1.3.1987 all the Municipalities of Italy should have adopted the PEBA, Plans for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers. Almost no one has done so and, however, there is no news of their commissioner, which the Regions and Autonomous Provinces should have provided for in case of omission (law 41/1986), (5)

- accessibility. Local authorities should also have removed all obstacles to the accessibility of public and private infrastructures and services, including those under concession (Law 104/92). Between these:

- public and private buildings open to the public,

- private buildings (through adaptation of building regulations),

- public and private collective transport,

- sports, tourist and recreational activities,

- bathing facilities. (5)

The responsibilities of the Municipalities. Services

Municipalities they are also required to provide interventions and services aimed at guaranteeing:

- care and support for social integration (day and residential centers, framework law 328/2000). There is no need to call back what has already emerged to the horrors of the news during the pandemic,

- personal mobility of people with disabilities. Municipalities have a duty to ensure the personal mobility of disabled people, at affordable costs, to enable them to participate in an inclusive society. Mere utopia, with all due respect to the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, article 20 (law 18/2009. See note 6).

Unresolved problems

Architectural barriers they are ubiquitous in Italy, due to the absolute irresponsibility of any political area that has governed every municipality in Italy that is obliged to plan their elimination. From Rome Capital to the smallest villages (7,8).

98% of schools, even municipal, is inaccessible to pupils with sensory disabilities. 68% of schools are also inaccessible to students with motor disabilities (ISTAT 2020. See note 9) And universities are not doing any better. We envy developing countries, where at least the classrooms are often located on the ground floor.

Public transport are still inaccessible, to a very large extent:

- at an urban level, even in large cities such as Genoa or Rome (5,10),

- at interurban level, both buses and trains.

- 83% of Italian railway stations are still inaccessible, while the seats reserved on trains for people with disabilities vary between 0 and 1,2%. (11)

As for the care services and assistance for social integration, we limit ourselves to underlining how the related investments vary significantly on a geographical basis. And their shortage translates into serious hardship for families with disabled people, already more exposed to severe material deprivation. Especially in the South. (12)

Provisional conclusions

9 million over-65 in Italy, equal to 59,9% of the category, has mobility limitations due to health conditions (31,5%. 5,136 mln approx.) or severe motor, sensory or cognitive limitations (28,4%, approx. 3,860 mln ISTAT 2021. See note 13).

1,5 million disabled people about - the under-75, out of a total of 3,150 million people with disabilities, are added to the 9 million mentioned above.

The needs mentioned above therefore concern 1 out of 6 residents in Italy, in line with the WHO global data on the prevalence of disabilities. To which are added various forms of fragility, not always visible, which must also be considered.

Dario Dongo

Footnotes

(1) ISTAT (2019). Report Knowing the disability. Eurostat (2019). Disability statistics, poverty and income inequalities. v. https://www.egalite.org/conoscere-la-disabilita-rapporti-istat-ed-eurostat/

(2) Eurostat (2021). Population structure and aging. Data updated to 1.1.20. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Population_structure_and_ageing

(3) Dario Dongo. International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3.12.20. Open letter. Egalité, https://www.egalite.org/giornata-mondiale-della-disabilita-3-12-20-lettera-aperta/

(4) Sabrina Bergamini, Dario Dongo. Disability, 'new' European strategy 2021-2030. Egalité. 12.3.21, https://www.egalite.org/disabilita-nuova-strategia-europea-2021-2030/

(5) On architectural barriers and systematic non-application of the laws in force, see the previous article https://www.egalite.org/genova-dopo-il-ponte-le-barriere-architettoniche-appello-al-sindaco-e-denuncia-allamt/.
On beaches and bathing activities see also https://www.egalite.org/la-lista-delle-spiagge-senza-barriere-e-con-sedia-a-rotelle-anfibia/

(6) Personal mobility of the disabled, the duties of the public administration defined in the UN Convention. V. https://www.egalite.org/mobilita-personale-dei-disabili-diritti-negati-e-blackout-a-roma/

(7) Vanessa Ciccarelli. Architectural Barrier Elimination Plan, 34 years late. Reportage in Rome. Egalité. 27.3.20, https://www.egalite.org/piano-peba-contro-le-barriere-architettoniche-a-roma-34-anni-di-ritardo-reportage/

(8) Albertina Pretto. Historic cities, accessibility problems in Italy. Egalité. 27.3.21, https://www.egalite.org/citta-storiche-i-problemi-di-accessibilita-in-italia/

(9) ISTAT (2020). The scholastic inclusion of pupils with disabilities, school year 2018/2019. V. https://www.egalite.org/2-scuole-su-3-inaccessibili-agli-alunni-con-disabilita-rapporto-istat/.
The same data on the inaccessibility of schools were confirmed in the school year 2019-2020. See ISTAT (2021). The scholastic inclusion of pupils with disabilities. https://bit.ly/3EOYbyy

(10) On the inaccessibility of the subways, see the example of ATAC Rome https://www.egalite.org/disabili-inaccessibilita-metropolitana-roma-ennesima-denuncia-alla-procura/

(11) On trains and apartheid, see previous relationship. On public transport and disabilities, see also the latest joke and its related appeal to Minister Enrico Giovannini

(12) ISTAT (2019). Know the world of disability. ISBN 978-88-458-2005-2. https://bit.ly/2Zyl6Oz

(13) ISTAT (2021). Health conditions of the elderly population in Italy, 2019 data. https://bit.ly/3AHrEYP