Citizens’ income, so many poor people are excluded (also according to INPS). And what needs to be changed to make it fairer

The requirements that must be met in order to be entitled to Basic income “Exclude most of poor (defined in various ways). “And the result is that, of some 9 million people who are in a situation of relative poverty, only 14% receive it. These are some of the conclusions to which an economist of the Direction of the inps study assess the impact of the measure now at the midpoint of the first 18 months. With the COVID-19 that multiplies situations of poverty, it is crucial not only to strengthen theinsertion of beneficiaries in world of work but also intervene in the aspects that make it ineffective to achieve the primary objective: to reduce poverty. “Fortunately, the revenue was there when the pandemic started. But it was poorly designed. There are three main problems: the substantial exclusion of foreign, the penalty of large families and the disadvantage for him north“, Summarizes Christian Gori, professor of social policy at the University of Trento and new author of Fight against poverty. Italy from social card to Covid-19 (The third). “These three groups are doubly disadvantaged: as a percentage they enjoy the benefit less than others and when they receive it they take it lower figures “.

Thus, the wellness tool born during the yellow-green government it only partially reaches those who need it most. The counter-test comes from the comparison between the INPS data on beneficiaries and the Istat data on people in absolute poverty, that is, not being able to buy a basket of essential goods and services for an acceptable life. In 2019, the year the subsidy began, absolute poverty decreased only by 447 thousand units, just below 4.6 million. In Northeast are even increased, from 748 to 768 thousand. Although they received the DRC approx. 2.3 million people, get on 3 millions this year with the pandemic. And again: according to the INPS simulations presented during the seminar held on February 19, more than 50% of the income recipients are not among the 9 million relatively poor (people with a monthly expenditure much lower than the average per capita). It is no coincidence thatAlliance Against Poverty he just turned to the government Eight Proposals to Redesign Revenue “In a more fair, inclusive and attentive to new social emergencies ”.

Too much is at stake for foreign nationals – Istat, in the latest report on poverty in Italy, puts pen on paper that “the families that would have the right to receive the Citizen’s Income and those that are in conditions of absolute poverty are two universes that only partially overlap “. Among the causes, he cites the fact that “the RoC is highly selective towards foreign citizensas it provides a ten year requirement from previous years residence in Italy, of which the last two are continuous. “Therefore, in front of 1 million and 400 thousand foreigners in absolute poverty (among them the incidence is four times higher than among Italian citizens), only 260 thousand citizens from outside the EU receive the grant. The Alliance Against Poverty, therefore, proposes to reduce the residence time to 2 years and repeal the rule that requires additional certification.

Criminalization of large families – To qualify for the benefit, you need a income less than a threshold of 6 thousand euros a year (9,360 if you are in rent) for singles. For families, the figure is multiplied by one. equivalence scale which should allow to take into account the number of components. The entitlement allowance is calculated as the difference between the threshold thus obtained and income from work. But the scale used gives little “weight” to younger children and limits only 1,050 euros per month – Net of Rent Contribution and Surcharges for Disabled Members – The maximum amount for a couple with many children. Is penalizes the large familiesprecisely those most at risk of poverty. The income assessment slides presented during the INPS seminar explain the choice with the need to “contain the costs of the intervention“, Assuming that the benefit amount for a single person with no other income had to correspond to the flag figure of 780 euros promise before entry into force. The Alliance Against Poverty proposes to replace the equivalence scale and eliminate or raise the ceiling for large families much, in order to include 365 thousand more. It would cost around 4 billion.

Geographic inequality: many poor people in the North discovered – The last element of inequality is the “geographical” one. To the north Life, from rents to purchases, costs more and the absolute poverty thresholds used by Istat take this into account: differentiated, as well as for the family composition, also for Location me amplitude of the Municipality of residence. For example, a couple with children under the age of 10 living on the outskirts of a metropolitan area in the north is poor in an absolute sense if they can count on less than 1,610 euros per month, while according to the statistical institute the poverty threshold for a family with the same composition that lives in a small from South go down to 1,222 euros. With an income of 1,400 euros per month, therefore, the family from the North must be considered poor, the one from the South not. But the income of the citizens don’t look at purchasing power and it does not foresee distinctions: it is the same throughout Italy. Only income and real estate requirements count (It must be less than 30 thousand euros, excluding the first home) and furniture (the threshold is 6 thousand euros for a single, up to 10 thousand for families). This according to the INPS slides “removes the tool of a coherent intervention to combat poverty“And it ends up favoring the neighbors to the South: among them are the beneficiaries of the income 1.9 million, compared to 1.4 million poor absolute counted by Istat. In the North, the relationship is reversed: the income they receive 586 thousand but the poor in 2019 were 1.7 million.

The expansion needed with the Covid emergency – This network of the impact of Covid, which has multiplied the situations of hardship. “There are, for example, the 600,000 beneficiaries of the Emergency income (last resort aid introduced for the months of May, June and July for those who were not entitled to other buffers, ed.) that have now been discovered, ”recalls Gori. For them and others who have encountered difficulties due to the impact of the closure, “it would be appropriate to think of a flexibility of equity criteria to access the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so that they can get it without first having to finance the few savings. “The decrees related to the next move could be an opportunity to make a” coupon “that also takes into account these new needs.