Discounts, loans, bonuses. There are many supplementary welfare services introduced in recent years by the social security funds to stem the collapse of new members. The under 35s represent only 15 percent of the million and a half Italian professionals enrolled in the funds and in the last 10 years the candidates for professional exams have dropped by over 30 percent.
At this rate, the pensions of doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants and others risk becoming less and less sustainable over time. The new concessions aimed at young people aim precisely to reverse this trend.
CUTTING OF CONTRIBUTIONS
According to a survey by Il Sole 24 Ore on 13 professional funds, the most common measure in favor of young professionals consists in a cut in the contributions to be paid to the funds themselves in the first years of enrollment (six in addition to the enrollment fee for accountants, three for biologists and psychologists).
In the case of young lawyers enrolled in the forensic fund, the reduction concerns:
– the subjective minimum contribution: in 2017 equal to 2.815 euros, it is cut by 50% for the first six years and can be paid in installments in the case of incomes below 10.300 euros;
– the minimum supplementary contribution: canceled for the first 5 years and reduced by 50% in the following four, this year it is equal to 710 euros.
As for Inarcassa, which concerns architects and engineers, for the first 5 years of registration, young people pay minimum contributions reduced to one third and benefit from a halved subjective rate. The discount reaches 75% in the first two years for newly graduated surveyors and 50% in the following three.
On the other hand, the exemption from paying the minimum contributions is automatic and total for under 35s registered with the Accountants' Fund, who enjoy this benefit in the first three years of registration.
The discount granted to agricultural experts enrolled in the separate management of Enpaia also lasts three years, but in this case the minimum contributions are halved and the discount is granted only to those under 30 with incomes of less than 6 thousand euros per year. The discount is always 50%, but lasts five years, for agrotechnicians under 35 at the time of registration and with incomes of less than 3 euros.
Other ticket offices have no age limit for discounts. Enpacl halves the contribution rates for labor consultants for four years from the moment of registration, while Enpaf provides for reductions for pharmacists who work as employees and for the unemployed. However, that of notaries is a particular case: their Cassa does not give discounts, but always pays a supplementary pension to members who do not reach a minimum allowance.
WELFARE FOR PARENTS
Family support benefits are also on the rise. Eight funds (notaries, surveyors, labor consultants, biologists, psychologists, nurses, multi-category and industrial experts) are part of Emapi, an association that provides welfare services including the maternity package, which offers free coverage to members in good standing with contributions and includes ultrasound scans, checkups, exams and postpartum psychological interviews.
The Accountants' Fund, on the other hand, provides for enhanced maternity leave: in addition to the contribution envisaged for everyone, an extra month of maternity leave is guaranteed, ranging from a minimum of 1.715 euros to a maximum of over 4 thousand euros.
Eppi, the Cassa dei periti industriali, recognizes a birth bonus of 3 thousand euros, while in the case of Enpam (doctors and dentists)? maternity subsidies also concern female students close to graduating.
Enpav (veterinarians) offers a rather broad package: from aid for nursery schools and babysitters to subsidized loans. For lawyers, on the other hand, there is a bonus of 1.500 euros and a contribution of one thousand euros for nursery schools.
Finally, Enpab, the Biologists' Fund, has allocated 1,3 million for contributions to the family (nurseries, textbooks, study allowances, assistance for the elderly, contributions to survivors), birth bonuses and for the profession.
SUBSIDIZED LOANS
Last year, the Cassa forense allocated 1,5 million euros in a non-refundable grant to reimburse 50% of the costs of purchasing IT materials, with a maximum limit of 1.500 euros. The measure, reserved for incomes under 40 thousand euros, was sold out.
Other banks offer subsidized loans for starting the business and setting up the studio, but often these products go unnoticed due to the competition from banking products: just four requests from psychologists in 2016, six from employment consultants.
