Disparities in Local Social Protection System from a Demographic Perspective. Population Ageing

The study of economic and social phenomena cannot ignore ad in-depth analysis of the population and its demographic features, as strictly related to the phenomenon of interst. The old age function of socil protections represents an important share of social spending in Italy, hence appears useful, if not essential, to focus on the ageing process of the italian population. Even if progerssive population ageing is spreading throughout the Italian territory, it does not show the same intensity across different regions. In this Chapter, we try to understand if and how investments by local governments inn this area of social protection are consistent with the picture suggested by the demographic context. It is well known that Italy in one of the "oldest" countries in the world. This ageig processing can be seen not only as "ageing from the top" (a growing proportion of old and very old aged people), but also as "ageing from the bottom" (a progessive reduction of ypung people) with a resulting imbalance in intergenerational relationship as, in social terms as well, as this involves a reallocation of resources in favor of the eledrly (health, disability, long-term care). Demographic analysis helps us reveal deficiences and possible differences between the amount of social spending allotted to the elderly and the actual demographic weight of aged people, both at the national and regional levels.