October 31st is World Savings Day: how did this anniversary arise and what do money and savings represent for Italians today?
The idea of a day dedicated to the theme originated in 1924 when, in Italy, the first International Congress of Savings Banks was held, attended by delegates from 29 countries who, to remember and celebrate the historic meeting, declared the 31st October “World Savings Day”.
The main objective of the Day was to inform about the value of money: knowing how to save was in fact considered fundamental for the evolution of the individual, as well as for the progress of nations and humanity.
The ability to set aside money is historically considered the prerogative of the Italian people.
The topic is even discussed within the Constitution of our country, where article 47 states: “The Republic encourages and protects saving in all its forms; regulates, coordinates and controls the exercise of credit. It promotes the access of popular savings to home ownership, to direct agricultural ownership and to direct and indirect equity investment in the country’s large production complexes”.
What is the current situation?
Can the saving tendency of private citizens still be considered a representative characteristic of the country?
How are Italians’ savings doing today?
The annual Acri-Ipsos report was released yesterday, on the eve of World Savings Day, which provides us with a snapshot of the way in which Italians manage and experience savings.
The study highlights a slight improvement in the standard of living: it shows a decrease in families in severe economic difficulty compared to 2022, and a growth in those who have recorded a better stability, compared to the same year.
According to the survey, dissatisfaction is decreasing: the share of those who are in serious difficulty drops from 17% to 14%, while those who complain of worsening goes from 19 to 13%.
Personal economic prospects appear more positive and it is above all young people between 18 and 30 who look at their economic situation with greater optimism towards the future, followed by millennials (31-44 years).
According to the report, this improvement has led Italians to have a greater ability to save: 48% of the sample declares that they have managed to save, compared to 43% last year.
Italians don’t know how to invest
According to what emerges from international rankings and some research, Italy shows a clear lack of skills regarding citizens’ ability to invest.
This is no small issue, as being able to manage your money responsibly is crucial when it comes to making good choices for the future. Even more so in times characterized by instability.
The need to take care of savings often generates anxiety and a sense of helplessness, particularly among women and in low-income families.
It is probably also for this reason that Italians continue to prefer liquidity in their current account to other forms of investment, considering it a safer form of savings.
This is without considering that leaving the money in the current account means incurring a certain loss, because inflation erodes the real value of the assets.
The solution? Invest time in learning how to manage our money
Generally speaking, Italians show a propensity to generate savings, but are not passionate about the topic of investments.
Furthermore, the higher the uncertainty, the more the tendency to keep one’s money “safe” is accentuated.
Paradoxically, inflation, by increasing the feeling of insecurity, pushes savers not to invest at all, when instead, precisely because of inflation itself, savings should not remain in the account for long, where they lose value very quickly.
How to overcome this?
First of all by investing our time to learn how to manage money well.
Feeling prepared allows us to overcome fear regarding economic matters, which often leads us to believe that we are not capable of managing our money adequately.
From this perspective, the provision for the teaching of financial education in schools, as part of civic education, was introduced a few months ago.
The objective is to make today’s children aware adults, capable of actively taking part in the economic life of the country.
The Museum of Saving supports financial education for all, with particular attention to vulnerable groups and youngsters. This is why it promotes various PCTOs for secondary schools, such as the one linked to the S.A.V.E. Virtual Tour project.
All information on the Museum of Saving’s activities to support financial education is available on the website.