School does not reduce social inequalities, according to a report on the economic burden of education on families

The report starts from a snapshot of the economic condition of families: if 30% of the sample declares that in the last year they have "never" had problems making ends meet, 45.5% instead highlights a certain economic vulnerability. This group is divided between those who declare they have "often" had economic difficulties (12.2%) and those who only "sometimes" (33.3%).

In this context, the "school-related" costs that each family must bear have a strong impact and 62.7% of families with student children declare that they have had to face extra costs, divided as follows:

37.1% of families faced expenses related to children's empowerment activities;

32.1% spent on repetitions;

44.3% spent on the purchase of digital or educational tools.

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It must also be considered that the chances of success at school remain linked to the social background and educational qualifications of the parents. The 2025 Istat data cited in the research show that school dropout among children aged 18 to 24 stops at 5% if there is at least one high school graduate in the home. But the percentage rises to almost 23% when parents have at most a middle school diploma.

“The school could make a difference in relation to these initial inequalities, while today it does not fully fulfill its role as 'great equalizer'”, underlines Francesco Belletti, sociologist and director of the CISF. "Teachers often oscillate between making everyone advance or pre-selecting the best: the two objectives overlap. But, in the absence of coherent intervention, the school tends to reproduce hierarchies", he adds.

And 17.8% (almost one family in five) even believe that school is not only unable to rebalance the starting conditions (family and individual talent), but actually accentuates them.