Assessment of subjective economic well-being in Italy

Using the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions for the year 2005, we analyze the subjective economic well-being and its determinants relating to some sub-groups of Italian households by means of an Ordered Logit Model (OLM), whose dependent variable is represented by a perception variable, that is the ability of households to make ends meet. The empirical results highlight that the main determinants of subjective economic well-being are the same for the four typologies of households. The subjective economic well-being is not only related to the economic status, but it is mostly influenced by socio-demographic variables, as work and education conditions. Furthermore, the level of subjective well-being of Italian households changes passing from a specific status of socio-demographic variable to another one.