Italy: mixed results in 2019 for the citizens’ income policy

A flagship introduced by the first coalition government led by Giuseppe Conte, the so-called citizens’ income (see article n°10970), which was officially launched in April last year, has only partially kept its promises. The INPS (Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale), the main entity of the Italian public retirement system, received 1.63 million requests for both the citizens’ income and pension, as of 6 December 2019. Around 1 million of those requests were accepted, while almost 445,000 were turned down. The remainder of those requests are still being assessed. The citizens’ income have been granted to 890,756 households, or 2.3 million people, for an average amount of 522 euros per month (the maximum amount provided is 780 euros monthly for an individual). While these figures are significant, the citizens’ income is still some way from achieving its prime objective: reintegration into the world of work. Around 791,000 people receiving the grant are considered to be employable (out of 2.3 million, because the family members of a beneficiary must also be available for work) and around 330,000 went to ANPAL, the public employment agency, to start the personalised support journey towards a job. However according to figures released before Christmas by ANPAL, fewer than 29,000 citizens’ income recipients have found a job, and for 67% of them it is a fixed-term contract.