Despite the pandemic is fortunately only a memory, and we hope it remains so, other clouds have meanwhile been gathering on the horizon of our households: war in Ukraine and resumption of inflation, to name but two. The Household consumption monitoring centre at the Department of Human Sciences at the University of Verona, in this new wave of its national survey on consumption in Italy, must once again come to terms with the general impoverishment and the daily difficulties of families. The group of people struggling to make ends meet has, in fact, widened, and strategies for increasingly careful comparison of both purchases and consumption have become a daily occurrence even for those least affected by economic hardship. In addition to the more usual topics of evolving household purchasing and consumption strategies and economic needs, and that of personal networks of support and consumption – with a focus on the resilience shown in the face of the energy crisis – the research investigates the topic of values and principles of social justice that shape consumption, and that of the pursuit of happiness. Although they daily have to struggle to defend their way of life, people are beginning to hope again.

This book is included in DOAB.