For a 35-year-old in 1990, the incidence of taxes and social security contributions on income, calculated on the basis of remaining life expectancy and net of the value of social benefits, was equal to approximately 20 per cent; for someone 35 years old today, it exceeds 25 per cent.
A factor in this increase has been the excessively slow transition to the contributionsbased pension system. The older generations have been less severely affected. The recession has exacerbated economic difficulties above all for the young.