Every day is a small battle against numbers: those of bills , gasoline , the shopping cart . For many Sardinians, the end of the month is a goal that is achieved with difficulty and sacrifice. Working families, young couples, singles with precarious salaries: purchasing power crumbles in the face of rising prices and even a simple dinner out - especially in Cagliari - or a tank of gasoline become choices to be pondered. In a land where economic stability is often guaranteed more by the sacrifices of previous generations than by the certainties of the present, everyday life is made of compromises. An increasingly common situation, experienced by many young couples, new parents but also singles, who find themselves having to deal at the end of the month with their bank account and deadlines to pay.
To understand the extent of the problem, it may be useful to take a look at the prices of the most common foods, such as milk. In 2014, a litre on offer could be purchased in a supermarket for just over 50 euro cents. Ten years later, the same package cannot be brought home for less than 80/90 cents. An increase of about 50% borne by Sardinian families who in the meantime have seen their salaries increase by no more than 10/12%.
However, the blow to the wallets of the Island does not stop there: the surge in the cost of living in the last decade has on average doubled, perhaps tripled, compared to incomes, making an entire island poorer. Thousands of citizens can no longer afford to pay with the same ease for a house, a car or more simply for groceries at the market. If not at the cost of much heavier sacrifices than in the past.
Further details and insights in the articles by Francesca Melis and Luca Mascia on newsstands and on the L'Unione digital app.
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