The shopping cart, the bills, the fuel, the rent, the transportation, the difficulty making ends meet even if you work or, worse still, live on a pension: the high cost of living weighs on families and workers.

"It's no longer a temporary emergency, but a structural problem," observes Pier Luigi Ledda , regional secretary of the CISL union. And in Sardinia, the crisis is more serious than in other regions because the starting conditions are already disadvantaged: wages below the national average, already low compared to other industrialized countries and above all stagnant, discontinuous employment, and involuntary part-time work. Impacting the daily lives of Sardinians is not only the level of wages, but also the lower number of days worked (72% on the island compared to a national average of 78%) and the greater prevalence of involuntary part-time work, especially among women.

"We're cutting back on necessities." For a family earning €1,500 a month, the increase in their shopping basket (+5.8%) means about €81 more per month: "Almost a thousand euros a year, a huge amount for those without savings or additional income," comments Ledda. The regional secretary of the UIL, Fulvia Murru , describes a situation she encounters every day in the workplace: the salary runs out before the end of the month, and people start saving even on necessities. In Sardinia, she emphasizes, a significant portion of income is absorbed by travel, energy, and the difficulty of accessing services.

The full article by Marco Noce and further details are available in the newspaper on newsstands and on the Unione Digital app.

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