In terms of work, "Germany is a model to follow", while the discussion on article 18 "is ideological", because it does not concern more than 3 people. This is how the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expressed himself yesterday, presenting at Palazzo Chigi the government program for the remaining part of the legislature. A path that will start from the Jobs Act, now at the top of the list of priorities.
The reference to Germany immediately caused discussion because it foreshadows the use of the so-called mini-jobs, i.e. tax-free contractual forms introduced under the Schroeder government with the Hartz reform, a package of measures launched between 2003 and 2005, when the first economy of the 'Eurozone was grappling with around five million unemployed.
Mini-jobs are precarious and poorly paid jobs (maximum 450 euros per month for 15 hours of work per week), which do not allow for the accumulation of pension contributions or the right to health insurance. Their impact on statistics, however, is very significant. Last July, the unemployment rate in Italy reached 12,6%, while in Germany it did not go beyond 4,9%, after having dropped from 10,5% to 5,3% between 2004 and 2013. A progression supported in a decisive way precisely by the mini-jobs, which today guarantee employment to around seven million people.
However, mini-jobs are not the only intervention that the Renzi government could borrow from the locomotive of Europe. Another fundamental chapter concerns unemployment benefits. In Germany, you must have worked at least twelve months in the last two years to be eligible. If you meet this requirement, you will receive a check for one year, at the end of which you must demonstrate that you are active in looking for a job, are available to follow retraining courses or accept to carry out socially useful jobs, paid 1/1,5 euros per hour.
In general, this approach has reduced the cost of German labor, which in some cases has even reached - negatively - that of China.
Attachments: An opinion on “mini-jobs”
