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  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: The shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products, owned by Arianna Esposito's parents, who both died due to complications from the coronavirus, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organiza
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen here on their way to distribute groceries to needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: A woman received groceries donated by the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: The 59 years old baker Biagio Grimaldi donates 30 breads each day to the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization who distributes groceries to needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: The interior of a closed restaurant in the usually crowded Borgo Marinari, home to many restaurants and to a marina, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: A usually congested street is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Artist and tobacconist Anna Fusco (47) and her husband Ciro Esposito (40) distribute a homemade meal prepared by a volunteer to a homeless man in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020. Anna Fusco is the owner of the oldest tobacco shop in the heart of Naples. After the lockdown, as her profits dropped 90%, she noticed homeless people wandering the city centre not knowing where to find food. Together with her husband Ciro and her brother-in-law Vincenzo, she started preparing meals to distribute in front of her tobacco shop. In just a few days, dozens of volunteers took part of the initiative. At the time being, they distribute between 80 and 110 meals per day.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s t
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A closed kiosk in the usually crowded seafronti is seen here n Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A man is seen here carrying groceries in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A wicker basket full of food is lowered to the ground on a rope by Angelo Picone (55), a street artist also known as O' Capitan, to help those in need in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. The "Panaro Sociale", or Social Basket, shows a message saying "If you can, put something in. If you can't, take something out".<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2020: (R-L) A volunteer delivers groceries to a needy family in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200415_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2020: (R-L) A volunteer delivers groceries to a needy family in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200415_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2020: A banner drawn by a child saying "Everything will be fine. Go Italy" is seen here at the entrance of a building in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200415_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: The shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products, owned by Arianna Esposito's parents, who both died due to complications from the coronavirus, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organiza
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: A view of Naples and Mount Vesuvius is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Volunteer Filomena Cesareo (46) delivers groceries to a needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: (R-L) Volunteers Filomena Cesareo (46) and Kalina Wojcieszek (28) distribute groceries to needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020:  Volunteer Andrea Rubén Pomella, a 31 years old PhD in anthropoly, walks up the stairs to deliver groceries to a needy family in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020:  Volunteer Andrea Rubén Pomella, a 31 years old PhD in anthropoly,  delivers groceries to needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Volunteers Filomena Cesareo (46) and Kalina Wojcieszek (28) deliver groceries to needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: A Volunteer is seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Volunteers are seen preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: A banner in support of a quarantine income is seen here outside the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Antonio Pastore (46), a volunteer, carries grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: A man walks in the usually crowded seafront in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: A restaurant owner walks towards the usually crowded Borgo Marinari, home to many restaurants and to a marina, in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Artist and tobacconist Anna Fusco (47) waits for homeless people to come and pick up their daily meals prepared by volunteers in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020. Anna Fusco is the owner of the oldest tobacco shop in the heart of Naples. After the lockdown, as her profits dropped 90%, she noticed homeless people wandering the city centre not knowing where to find food. Together with her husband Ciro and her brother-in-law Vincenzo, she started preparing meals to distribute in front of her tobacco shop. In just a few days, dozens of volunteers took part of the initiative. At the time being, they distribute between 80 and 110 meals per day.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief pa
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: A man walks in the usually packed Pignasecca market in Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Flavia Brescia (46) and her daughter Angela (10) bring 15 home-made meals to a group of volunteers that will distribute food to homeless people in Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Angela Fusco (10) writes a message saying "Buon Appetito" and "Everything will be fine" for each meal that will be distributed to homeless people by a group of volunteers n Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Flavia Brescia (46) and her daughter Angela (10), are seen here at home wrapping 15 meals that will be distributed to homeless people by a group of volunteers in Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Angela Fusco (10) writes a message saying "Buon Appetito" and "Everything will be fine" for each meal that will be distributed to homeless people by a group of volunteers n Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Flavia Brescia (46) and her daughter Angela (10), are seen here at home preparing 15 meals that will be distributed to homeless people by a group of volunteers in Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A woman is seen here alone in a usually crowded seafront in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A woman walks in a usually crowded street in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A wicker basket full of food is lowered to the ground on a rope by Angelo Picone (55), a street artist also known as O' Capitan, to help those in need in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. The "Panaro Sociale", or Social Basket, shows a message saying "If you can, put something in. If you can't, take something out".<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: An elderly woman shops at the delicatessen "Ai Monti Lattari", which has taken part in the "suspended groceries" initiative to help people face the economic consequences of the coronavirus in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. Like the suspended coffee, a Neapolitan tradition that boomed during World War II and has found a revival in recent years during hard economic times, the suspended groceries is an act of generosity by those who can afford to buy groceries: the groceries are paid and left at the store for the poor who can later pick them up. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: An elderly woman waits her turn to enter the delicatessen "Ai Monti Lattari", which has taken part in the "suspended groceries" initiative to help people face the economic consequences of the coronavirus in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. Like the suspended coffee, a Neapolitan tradition that boomed during World War II and has found a revival in recent years during hard economic times, the suspended groceries is an act of generosity by those who can afford to buy groceries: the groceries are paid and left at the store for the poor who can later pick them up. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Arianna Esposito (27), who lost both parents due to complications from the coronavirus, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized but health workers repeatedly told her her mother wasn’t sick enough to be tested. When her mother’s condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didn’t sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Ms. Esposito’s father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products.<br />
<br />
“Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we don’t have much,” said Ms. Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. The boy’s father only worked off the books in another shop that had closed too. “Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you.”<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Mario Palumbo (32),  a cook that had a short-time contract that did not get renewed as the restaurant's business dropped in March, poses for a portrait in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Mario Palumbo lives with his mother and his sister in a council flat in Naples' outskirts. As the epidemic hit Italy, the three found themselves only relying on the 300 basic income check his mother receives every month. Mr. Palumbo, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to provide for his family after his father died. His sister, 27, who worked off the book in a clothes shop that had to close, is not eligible for unemployment benefits or state help. <br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020:  Volunteer Kalina Wojcieszek (28) delivers groceries to needy families in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. Volunteers gathered at the "Sgarrupato",  an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization,  distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Activists and volunteers Oksana Olynyk (39) and Luigi Volpe (46) organise the distribution of groceries to needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: A volunteer takes a break after preparing grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2020: Antonio Pastore (46), a volunteer, checks what needs to be added to the grocery bags for needy families here at the "Sgarrupato", an abandoned church seized by the "Movimento 7 Novembre" community organization in Montesanto, a working class neighborhood in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2020. They distribute between 100 and 150 grocery bags each day, by providing food to approximately 600 families who have lost an income due to the coronavirus in Naples.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200414_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: A man walks in the usually crowded Piazza del Plebiscito, a large public square and one of Naples' top tourist spots, in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: The interior of a closed restaurant in the usually crowded Borgo Marinari, home to many restaurants and to a marina, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: Artist and tobacconist Anna Fusco (47, center) and her husband Ciro Esposito (40, left) wait for homeless people to come and pick up their daily meals prepared by volunteers in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020. Anna Fusco is the owner of the oldest tobacco shop in the heart of Naples. After the lockdown, as her profits dropped 90%, she noticed homeless people wandering the city centre not knowing where to find food. Together with her husband Ciro and her brother-in-law Vincenzo, she started preparing meals to distribute in front of her tobacco shop. In just a few days, dozens of volunteers took part of the initiative. At the time being, they distribute between 80 and 110 meals per day.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no acces
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Artist and tobacconist Anna Fusco (47) and her husband Ciro Esposito (40) distribute a homemade meal prepared by a volunteer to a homeless man in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020. Anna Fusco is the owner of the oldest tobacco shop in the heart of Naples. After the lockdown, as her profits dropped 90%, she noticed homeless people wandering the city centre not knowing where to find food. Together with her husband Ciro and her brother-in-law Vincenzo, she started preparing meals to distribute in front of her tobacco shop. In just a few days, dozens of volunteers took part of the initiative. At the time being, they distribute between 80 and 110 meals per day.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s t
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 13 APRIL 2020: (L-R) Artist and tobacconist Anna Fusco (47) and her husband Ciro Esposito (40) wait for homeless people to come and pick up their daily meals prepared by volunteers in Naples, Italy, on April 13th 2020. Anna Fusco is the owner of the oldest tobacco shop in the heart of Naples. After the lockdown, as her profits dropped 90%, she noticed homeless people wandering the city centre not knowing where to find food. Together with her husband Ciro and her brother-in-law Vincenzo, she started preparing meals to distribute in front of her tobacco shop. In just a few days, dozens of volunteers took part of the initiative. At the time being, they distribute between 80 and 110 meals per day.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the
    CIPG_20200413_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 APRIL 2020: Flavia Brescia (46) and her daughter Angela (10) bring 15 home-made meals to a group of volunteers that will distribute food to homeless people in Naples, Italy, on April 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200412_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: A needy man takes food out of a wicker basket lowered to the ground on a rope by Angelo Picone (55), a street artist also known as O' Capitan, to help those in need in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. The "Panaro Sociale", or Social Basket, shows a message saying "If you can, put something in. If you can't, take something out".<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: An elderly man puts food in a wicker basket lowered to the ground on a rope by Angelo Picone (55), a street artist also known as O' Capitan, to help those in need in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. The "Panaro Sociale", or Social Basket, shows a message saying "If you can, put something in. If you can't, take something out".<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 11 APRIL 2020: Angelo Picone (55), a street artist also known as O' Capitan, lowers a wicker basket full of food to the ground on a rope to help those in need in Naples, Italy, on April 11th 2020. The "Panaro Sociale", or Social Basket, shows a message saying "If you can, put something in. If you can't, take something out".<br />
<br />
Southern Italians are facing a war on two fronts. Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with nearly 20,000 deaths, exploded in the country’s wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europe’s most sophisticated healthcare systems to the limits and shut down the country’s economic engine. But it is the country’s poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and which figured prominently in the government’s decision to lock down all of Italy last month.<br />
<br />
The south is facing economic carnage not seen since the post-war era. The region’s poor, used to scraping by with temporary contracts or off-the-books jobs, are now increasingly dependent on handouts. Scattered, but troubling, reports of unrest at supermarkets puncture the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. And officials are concerned that criminal organizations that have long infiltrated the black market, the health systems and many other facets of southern life are seeking to exploit the crisis by substituting reluctant banks as providers of loans and, in some cases, food.<br />
<br />
The existence of the widespread use off-the-books workers in the South’s vibrant “street economy,” meant that the lockdowns hit hard families that had no access to the government’s targeted relief packages.
    CIPG_20200411_NYT_Coronavirus-Naples...jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Matteo Marzana, head of the the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug), poses for a portrait at the charity headquarters in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306257.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 9 NOVEMBER 2018: Unemployed citizens register to the Eastern Naples Job Center in Naples, Italy, on November 9th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181109_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_533...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: Gennaro Ferrillo, Head of the Eastern Naples Job Center, is seen here at work in his office in Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_520...jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Antonella Maresca, a 54 years old part-time cleaning lady and care giver now relying on food handouts from the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug), poses for a portrait at the charity headquarters in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306065.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito (52), a parking attendant out of work and relying on the food handouts from the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) , poses for a portrait at the charity headquarters in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
Carmine Esposito worked as a parking attendant in central Salerno. Many of his clients were foreign tourists, who used to stop in Salerno before driving to the nearby Amalfi Coast. He hasn’t made any money in more than two months and is now struggling to pay his €600 monthly rent. He relies on food handouts from L’Abbraccio. Although he worked full time, he was on a part time contract, a way for his employers to skimp on social-security payments. As a result, when his furlough benefits eventually come through, he expects to receive €500, far less than the €1,300 a month he used to make. “It is a serious problem. I need the money immediately,” said Mr. Esposito, who regularly sends money to his 25- year-old son, a college student. He is looking for new jobs, but the prospects are slim. “It was a struggle before. Just imagine what it’s like now,” he said.<br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for t
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306000.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Volunteers of the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) prepare hot meals for homeless people in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305893.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito (52),  volunteer a volunteer and parking attendant out of work relying on the food handouts from of the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug), carries the food donated by the food bank at the headquarters of the charity in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305809.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Volunteers of the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) unload the food donated by the food bank at the headquarters of the charity in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305739.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Matteo Marzana, head of the the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug), poses for a portrait in his car in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306234.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito (52), a parking attendant out of work and relying on the food handouts from the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) , poses for a portrait at the charity headquarters in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
Carmine Esposito worked as a parking attendant in central Salerno. Many of his clients were foreign tourists, who used to stop in Salerno before driving to the nearby Amalfi Coast. He hasn’t made any money in more than two months and is now struggling to pay his €600 monthly rent. He relies on food handouts from L’Abbraccio. Although he worked full time, he was on a part time contract, a way for his employers to skimp on social-security payments. As a result, when his furlough benefits eventually come through, he expects to receive €500, far less than the €1,300 a month he used to make. “It is a serious problem. I need the money immediately,” said Mr. Esposito, who regularly sends money to his 25- year-old son, a college student. He is looking for new jobs, but the prospects are slim. “It was a struggle before. Just imagine what it’s like now,” he said.<br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for t
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306185.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: A homeless man's bed is seen here in in a gym in a tensile structure converted to a shelter for the homeless, in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
Homeless men here rely on food handouts donated by the charity L'Abbraccio (Italian for The Hug). L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306108.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito (52), a parking attendant out of work and relying on the food handouts from the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) , poses for a portrait at the charity headquarters in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
Carmine Esposito worked as a parking attendant in central Salerno. Many of his clients were foreign tourists, who used to stop in Salerno before driving to the nearby Amalfi Coast. He hasn’t made any money in more than two months and is now struggling to pay his €600 monthly rent. He relies on food handouts from L’Abbraccio. Although he worked full time, he was on a part time contract, a way for his employers to skimp on social-security payments. As a result, when his furlough benefits eventually come through, he expects to receive €500, far less than the €1,300 a month he used to make. “It is a serious problem. I need the money immediately,” said Mr. Esposito, who regularly sends money to his 25- year-old son, a college student. He is looking for new jobs, but the prospects are slim. “It was a struggle before. Just imagine what it’s like now,” he said.<br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for t
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306000.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito, (52) a volunteer and parking attendant out of work relying on the food handouts from of the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) ,smokes a cigarette after unloading the food donated by the food bank to the charity  in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
Carmine Esposito worked as a parking attendant in central Salerno. Many of his clients were foreign tourists, who used to stop in Salerno before driving to the nearby Amalfi Coast. He hasn’t made any money in more than two months and is now struggling to pay his €600 monthly rent. He relies on food handouts from L’Abbraccio. Although he worked full time, he was on a part time contract, a way for his employers to skimp on social-security payments. As a result, when his furlough benefits eventually come through, he expects to receive €500, far less than the €1,300 a month he used to make. “It is a serious problem. I need the money immediately,” said Mr. Esposito, who regularly sends money to his 25- year-old son, a college student. He is looking for new jobs, but the prospects are slim. “It was a struggle before. Just imagine what it’s like now,” he said.<br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundr
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305956.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Carmine Esposito (52),  volunteer a volunteer and parking attendant out of work relying on the food handouts from of the  charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug), carries the food donated by the food bank at the headquarters of the charity in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305809.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Volunteers of the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) unload the food donated by the food bank at the headquarters of the charity in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305759.jpg
  • SALERNO, ITALY - 11 MAY 2020: Volunteers of the charity "L'Abbraccio" (Italian for The Hug) unload the food donated by the food bank at the headquarters of the charity in Salerno, Italy, on May 11th 2020. <br />
<br />
L'Abbraccio is  a charity which has focused on assisting the newly poor since the 2008 financial crisis.<br />
<br />
In less than two months, the number of families who have turned to L’Abbraccio to feed themselves has jumped from 160 families to over 500.<br />
<br />
“They are not people who live in extreme poverty, but people who have found themselves poor because of the economic crisis,” says the heady of the charity Matteo Marzana.  They include swathes of the population employed off the books and thus largely excluded from the state’s welfare safety net.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The coronavirus pandemic has precipitated one of the worst economic downturns in generations across the world. But few major economies are likely to suffer as much as Italy’s, or take longer to recover.<br />
The health emergency has already left hundreds of thousands of Italians unable to pay for their own food for the first time. Experts warn that the poverty crisis is only just beginning, and that many of those who abruptly plunged into poverty may never be able to lift themselves out of it – even once the pandemic is over. Italy, more than its Western European neighbors, is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Its big problem is that its economy never really recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, leaving families poorer and the government much more indebted today than it was then.<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: ITPOOR
    CIPG_20200511_WSJ_NewPoor_7M305739.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 9 NOVEMBER 2018: Giuseppe Ruggiero (17 years old, center), an aspiring hair stylist accompanied by his mother Giovanna, registers for the first time at the Eastern Naples Job Center in Naples, Italy, on November 9th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181109_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_559...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 9 NOVEMBER 2018: Giuseppe Ruggiero (17 years old, 2nd from right), an aspiring hair stylist, waits in line together with his mother Giovanna and other unemployed citizens, to register for the first time at the Eastern Naples Job Center in Naples, Italy, on November 9th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181109_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_549...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 9 NOVEMBER 2018: Unemployed citizens are seen here in line waiting to be served at the Eastern Naples Job Center in Naples, Italy, on November 9th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181109_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_536...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018:  A man selling contraband cigarettes is seen here in the Sanità, a neighborhood in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement, is designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty. The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_527...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of the waiting room of the Eastern Naples Job Center after its closing time,  in Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_524...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of the waiting room of the Eastern Naples Job Center after its closing time,  in Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_523...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: Gennaro Ferrillo, Head of the Eastern Naples Job Center, is seen here at work in his office in Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_522...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: A janitor closes the gate of a the Eastern Naples Job Center minutes after closing time in Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Italy’s 550 state-run job centers will be in charge of verifying that recipients of the “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty, meet an important eligibility criteria: that they are actively looking for a job.<br />
But Italians widely regard the centers as being blighted by obsolete technology and insufficient and under-qualified staff. The new populist government plans to spend 1 billion euros to modernize the centers — 10 percent of the total cost of the new policy in its first year in 2019. <br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_517...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: Customers are seen here in the Pignasecca market  in Montesanto, a neighborhood in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
The “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement, is designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty. The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_513...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: An elderly man is seen here by a fish stand in the Pignasecca market  in Montesanto, a neighborhood in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
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The “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement, is designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty. The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_511...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 8 NOVEMBER 2018: Passerby are seen  in Montesanto, a neighborhood in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on November 8th 2018.<br />
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The “citizens’ wage”, a welfare policy championed by the governing 5-Star Movement, is designed to lift 5 million Italian out of poverty. The “citizens’ wage” will cost 10 billion euros next year, the most expensive item in a big-spending budget which itself has raised concerns in the European Union that Italy could be sowing the seeds of a financial crisis.
    CIPG_20181108_NYT-ItalyBudget_M3_503...jpg
  • Valletta, Malta - 20 August, 2012: A guard stands stills in front of the Grand Master's Palace which houses the Office of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives in Valletta, Malta, on 20 August, 2012.<br />
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The Republic of Malta is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean. Malta covers just over 316 km2 (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states.It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. 1,597 migrants of 30 different nationalities arrived in Malta by boat in 2011. A person arriving in Malta without a valid passport or visa can be detained in terms of immigration law for a period up to 18 months (12 months in case of asylum seekers). Vulnerable individuals can be released early after vulnerability assessment procedures are conducted by the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS).<br />
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Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times
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