Software Engineers in Italy are getting scammed
No pension, no infrastructure, lowest salaries in Europe, 50% tax - wtf?
For a comparison, check these other articles about social security:
Software Engineers in Italy pay 40-50% of their salary for:
A pension they'll never see
An infrastructure in steep decline (hospitals, schools, roads)
Access to some of the lowest salaries in the world
Gotta be a joke 🙈
But it's not... Here's the proof:
Income Taxes
For 50k eur/year -> 28%
For 200k eur/year -> 39%
Social Security contributions (INPS)
Employee pays 10%
Employer pays 23%
So, for €50- 200k income levels, they pay ~40-50% tax rates 🙈
Now the fun part:
Italy runs an annual pension system's deficit of 70–80 BILLION EUROS (4% of its GDP).
That's because it spends ~€320 billions per year in pensions, but only makes ~€240 billions from social security contributions.
Why?
24% of Italians are already 65+ (fertility rate among the lowest in Europe)
No wage growth in the past few decades -> high social security contributions aren't enough
This is not sustainable.
Italy already has a public debt of ~140–150% its GDP.
Second highest in Europe after Greece, among the highest in the world.
What's coming in the next few decades:
Cuts to infrastructure, R&D, education, healthcare
Increased pension age and reduced pensions
If you're a dev living in Italy: you're getting ripped off.
If you're a dev living abroad and planning to retire in Italy: you might have to look elsewhere, if you want access to decent healthcare and infrastructure.
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