11.8% of workers in Italy suffer from poverty

Among the proposals made by Minimum salary, but also support for those who work but have very low incomes, a kind of “work subsidy”.

It is also necessary to influence, as we read in the report of the Ministry’s task force, the reasons why we have low income not only relate to Low hourly wages but also to Duration of employment (How many hours you work during the week, how many weeks in a year) Often risky, involuntary part-time, poor skills to work on with training. But we must also look at family composition (in particular the number of people receiving income within the nucleus) and the redistributive role of the state.

“An anti-poverty strategy in the workplace requires – we read – a multiplicity of tools to support individual incomes, increase the number of income earners, and ensure a well-targeted redistributive system. Increase the quantity and quality of work in our country.”

To ensure an appropriate minimum wage, according to experts, it is necessary Extension of key collective agreements to all workers or the introduction of a minimum wage by law. The third option involves experimenting with legal minimum wages or wage networks based on collective agreements in a limited number of sectors. This can give an initial response in those sectors where the situation is most urgent. Among the redistribution policies, the working group proposes to provide an advantage while working.

In fact, only 50% of poor workers in Italy receive some type of income support compared to 65% in European average. It should be – she says – a single tool, easily accessible and consistent with the rest of the system (in particular, citizenship income, but also the new individual and comprehensive examination of children). Based on international experiences, transfer should be determined at the individual level so as not to discourage the work of the second breadwinner. The discussion on tax reform, the study asserts, “represents the ideal setting for careful design of this type of instrument.”