<p>Just over two million Italians aged 15 to 29 or 21.2 percent of young people were neither working nor studying in 2009, Istat said, citing the most recently available data.<br /><br />Almost a fifth (19.2 percent) of youngsters had left school at 15 or 16 without obtaining a high school diploma, Istat said.<br /><br />Italy's school drop-out rate compared with an average of 14.4 percent for the 27-nation European Union, Istat noted. <br /><br />Among people aged 30-34, 19 percent had obtained a degree, against a target of 40 percent set by the European Union for member states to achieve by 2020. <br /><br />Less than one in two women had a job (44.4 percent), the lowest rate in the EU after Malta, according to Istat's 'We Italians' study. <br /><br />Italy's rate of long-term unemployed (44.4 percent) is the highest in the EU. <br /><br />Nationwide, 11.9 percent of people in work were employed off the books, while in Italy's under-developed south, the proportion was 20 percent, Istat said.</p>
<p>Just over two million Italians aged 15 to 29 or 21.2 percent of young people were neither working nor studying in 2009, Istat said, citing the most recently available data.<br /><br />Almost a fifth (19.2 percent) of youngsters had left school at 15 or 16 without obtaining a high school diploma, Istat said.<br /><br />Italy's school drop-out rate compared with an average of 14.4 percent for the 27-nation European Union, Istat noted. <br /><br />Among people aged 30-34, 19 percent had obtained a degree, against a target of 40 percent set by the European Union for member states to achieve by 2020. <br /><br />Less than one in two women had a job (44.4 percent), the lowest rate in the EU after Malta, according to Istat's 'We Italians' study. <br /><br />Italy's rate of long-term unemployed (44.4 percent) is the highest in the EU. <br /><br />Nationwide, 11.9 percent of people in work were employed off the books, while in Italy's under-developed south, the proportion was 20 percent, Istat said.</p>