Sostegno del reddito e lotta alla povertà in Italia: le politiche pubbliche in tempo di crisi

This paper reviews the impact on the distribution of households’ living standards (in terms of occupation, inequality and poverty) of the great recession in Italy, the evolution of labour market policies and social assistance over the last year and their effectiveness in facing the social consequences of the crisis. Also due to the severe consolidation of public finances in the short-medium run, the ongoing crisis has been handled so far with temporary measures which do not have reduced the categorical character of the Italian welfare state. However, first steps of a strategy reform in labour market policies and social assistance have been enacted or are going to be introduced, namely new income support schemes for job-losers, measures aimed to contrast extreme poverty and a revision of targeting welfare criteria. This paper critically examines the reform strategy, pointing out its potentialities and flaws.