Il CBI it will not be a welfare tool intended only for the South of Italy. This is the mantra that the Lega-M5s government continues to repeat after the ok to the budget maneuver that the Council of Ministers approved with the symbolic measure desired by the Five Stars. But obviously the true footprint of the operation remains to be seen.
CITIZENSHIP INCOME BETWEEN SOUTH AND NORTH
“We are thinking about how modulate job offers on the basis of geographical distribution”, declared the premier, Giuseppe Conte, at the political training school of the League, underway in Milan. What these words mean on a practical level is not known, given that there is still a lot of work to be done on the basic income system. Instead, it is clear what message the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Luigi Di Maio, intend to send with the words spoken in the last 48 hours. The concern of the Movimento 5 Stelle aimed at preventing citizens of the North from perceiving the basic income as a "subsidy for the South" paid at everyone's expense.
"The citizen's income, if implemented badly, can be misunderstood and perceived as a welfare subsidy - explained Conte - we are doing everything possible so that even this tool, which may not appear to be highly profitable, but of high social value, is implemented in a of social development, so that a mechanism for retraining people who have lost their jobs and qualifications for those who have not. Understood in these terms, it will be an essential reform for growth. We will be judged on this."
CITIZENSHIP INCOME: THE POVERTY THRESHOLD
It is no coincidence that Di Maio also intervened on the matter, specifying chand "47% of the recipient families" of the basic income "will be in the Centre-North". The focus is therefore on an equitable geographical distribution, even if the foundations on which to base it are elusive.
According to Istat, in fact, in Italy there are about 5 million people in absolute poverty, half of whom reside in the South. Instead, there are more than 6,5 million individuals living below the relative poverty line indicated by the EU.
In 2017, writes the institute, "the incidence of relative poverty increased compared to 2016 both in terms of families (from 10,6% in 2016 to 12,3%) and of people (from 14,0% to 15,6 ,19,7%); this deterioration was largely driven by the South (from 24,7% to 23,5% in terms of families, from 28,2% to XNUMX% in terms of individuals).
Taking these data into account, it is still not clear how the estimates provided by Di Maio can be transformed into reality. Past experiences also increase the doubts: the Inclusion Income (REI) to combat poverty launched by the previous government in 70% of cases benefits the regions of the South, while only 30% is distributed in the Centre-North .
Another fundamental aspect to take into consideration is then the ratio between the number of job requests and offers. According to experts, the vast majority of applications for access to basic income will come from the South where – we remind you – the M5s has built a large part of its electoral success thanks to the promise on income. However, these requests will collide with a much smaller number of job offers than Northern Italy can guarantee. How to fix? Also in this case we will have to wait for the details.
CITIZENSHIP INCOME: THE GENERAL RULES
At the moment what seems to be certain is that the basic income - starting in March or April - will benefit families with a Isee less than 9.360 euros a year. Its disbursement will take place through the health card and the money can only be spent on basic necessities.
There will be a total of 10 billion euros available (coverage still unknown) for a reference audience of 6,5 million people. Thus, Di Maio explained, "we help almost a million children because 6 billion will go to families with minors". "For the moment it will be a measure only for Italian citizens - continued the leader of the M5s - whether they are pensioners or young unemployed". A declaration of the latter, which could however lead to a judgment of illegitimacy by the Constitutional Court.
Returning to the criteria, it must be taken into consideration that there will be no possibility of "setting something aside". The portion of income that will not be spent will be taken back by the State.
Obviously, only people with zero income will receive the total amount promised by the government, equal to 780 euros per person (up to 1.400 for families). All the others will be able to count on a supplement, which means that the amount of the benefit will progressively decrease as the declared income approaches the maximum amount foreseen.
