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08 April 2018 Less than one in six people of working age has a degree in Italy, the second worst figure in Europe after Romania. This is what emerges from Eurostat's provisional data on education levels in 2017 according to which Italy would have the negative record for men with degrees with 13.7% of those aged between 15 and 64 years. In the age group, people with a degree are growing, from 15.7% in 2016 to 16.3%, but still far from the European average (27.7%). Between the ages of 25 and 34, 26.4% of people have a degree compared to 38.8% in the EU. For women, the percentage of people who have a degree in the drawer rises to 18.9% of people between the ages of 15 and 64, the worst figure in the EU (29.7% on average) after Romania. From 2008 to today, women with a degree in Italy have earned 4.9 points against 7,8 of the EU average.
The situation improves slightly if we look at the age group between 25 and 34, or young people who should have completed their training, with Italy at 26.4% overall (from 25.6% in 2016) even if it remains far from the European average of 38.8%. Women raise the average with 32.9% in this age group who are graduates (44% in the EU) while men struggle and reach 19.9% (33.6% in the EU).
Italy still has a high percentage of people with at most the middle school leaving certificate: 41.1% between 15 and 64 years of age against 26.2% in Europe. And the percentage is still too high among young people with 25.6 of people between 25 and 34 who have not attended (or have not finished) upper secondary school compared to the average 16.4% in Europe. However, women are more educated even in the still young age group with 22% having at most the middle school certificate compared to 29.1% among males.