Giorgia Meloni has chosen a symbolic day to cut corners on the social minima of her country: May 1, Labor Day. The Italian government on Monday abolished the “citizenship income”, an aid benefiting millions of poor people. It has been replaced by an “inclusion check” with a more limited scope. A decision described as “provocation” by the opposition and the unions.
The ultra-conservative executive led by Giorgia Meloni also voted to ease hiring on a fixed-term contract and exemption from employer contributions for one year for companies recruiting a recipient of the “inclusion check” on a permanent contract. or as an apprentice, according to the decree published at the end of the Council of Ministers.
The end of “citizenship income”
The stated objective is to stimulate employment and encourage young people to find work in the third largest economy in the euro zone where the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds (22.4% in February) is almost three times higher than the national average (8%). For its defenders, the “citizenship income” is a proven social shock absorber, especially in the southern regions hit by precariousness. But for the government, it is expensive (eight billion euros in 2022) and keeps its recipients out of working life.
From January 1, 2024, “citizenship income” will be replaced by an “inclusion check” at a cost of 5.4 billion euros per year. While the “citizenship income” was intended for anyone with very modest incomes – including young people -, the “inclusion check” will be reserved for families made up of people with disabilities, minors or over 60 years. “We are reforming the citizenship income to make the difference between those who are able to work and those who are not”, justified Giorgia Meloni. The government nevertheless argues that it offers exemptions from charges for hiring under thirty years of age.
An “inclusion check” capped at 500 euros per month
The “inclusion check” will be capped at 500 euros per month, to which will be added 280 euros for households that do not own their homes. Lasting 18 months, it may be renewed for one year after a one-month absence.
The government is also introducing an “instrument for access to professional activity”: for people fit for employment, participation in training or “projects useful to the community” becomes compulsory, in return for compensation of 350 euros per month maximum for one year. The cost for the State is estimated at 2.1 billion euros in 2024.
With the fall in the cost of labor for incomes of less than 35,000 euros gross per month over the next five months and the exemptions from charges linked to the measures announced, the government prides itself on having initiated “the largest reduction in taxes for decades, ”said Giorgia Meloni in a video message on Monday.
A May 1st, “a provocation”
According to the Italian Institute of Statistics (Istat), the “citizenship income” introduced in 2019 by the Five Star government has lifted one million people out of poverty even though around half of poor people do not receive it, either because they are not eligible (less than ten years of residence in the territory), or because they have not requested it.
In 2022, it benefited 1.6 million households representing nearly four million people, for an average allocation of 550 euros, according to the INPS social security body.
Opposition and unions sharply criticized the government for having convened a Council of Ministers on these subjects precisely on May 1, “a provocation”, according to the former president of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico. “A serious government does not meet on May 1 to condemn young people to precariousness for life, annihilating their dream of having a home and children. It is meeting to introduce a legal minimum wage,” condemned former Five-Star Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
“Desacralizing May Day”
For the newspaper La Repubblica, by “breaking with the secular calendar of the left, Giorgia Meloni wanted to demystify, desacralize May Day” and “challenging the unions’ social hegemony over the world of work”. Giorgia Meloni defended “on the contrary a beautiful signal and a privilege to honor the workers on this festive day and to provide the answers they expect”.
Thousands of people demonstrated in the country on Monday, from Turin to Rome, where eggs were thrown at a government building, while the main demonstration of the major Italian trade union confederations was held in Potenza (South).