The precursor of the basic income (RdC: decree law n.4/2019) was the Inclusion income (ReI: legislative decree n.147/2017). This liaison is also recognized by the current government majority which is usually inclined to believe that nothing existed before its advent, so much so that it was forced to invent even hot water. As is known, the budget law established (and financed) the Citizenship Income and Pension Fund, but at the same time the benefits of the ReI, until the new measures to be introduced are fully operational. Therefore, the continuation is arranged, confirming the spending limits and arranging that they contribute, on the basis of the procedures indicated for the provision of services, upon reaching the overall spending limit envisaged for the CBI. To this end, the resources intended for the economic disbursement of the ReI, within the aforementioned spending limits, have been transferred and set aside within the new Citizenship Income Fund, consequently reducing, starting from 2019, the related resources of the Poverty fund provided for the measure. For the 2019, spending limit envisaged for the disbursement of the economic benefits of ReI was determined, in just under About 2,2 billion. The appropriations were expected to decrease 2,15 billion for the 2020 e 2,13 billion per year since 2021. These resources therefore contributed to the financial coverage of the RdC.
| Inclusion income tab |
| In application of the legislative decree n. 147/2017 from 1 January 2018 the inclusion income was established (ReI) as a single national measure to combat poverty and social exclusion, conditional on the assessment of the economic condition through the ISEE. The ReI it replaced the SIA (Support for active inclusion) and the ASDI (Unemployment allowance). The ReI consisted of two parts: 1.an economic benefit, over twelve months, with a variable amount depending on the number of households (from around 187 to around 539 euros for households with 6 or more members). The economic benefit was paid monthly through an electronic payment card (Carta ReI); 2. a personalized project of activation and social and work inclusion aimed at overcoming the condition of poverty, prepared under the direction of the social services of the Municipality. 3.To access the ReI there were economic, residence/living and compatibility requirements (family members must not be recipients of unemployment benefits). |
In the handover between the two institutes, the Inclusion Income Observatory (ReI) has published the data for 2018, the year in which economic benefits were provided to 462.170 households, reaching 1.329.325 people. Most of the benefits were provided in the South (68%), involving 71% of the people involved. 47% of REI beneficiaries live in just two regions: Campania and Sicily. Calabria, Lazio, Lombardy and Puglia cover a further 28% of the nuclei.
The REI inclusion rate, i.e. the number of people involved for every 10 inhabitants, was 2018 in 220. It reaches the highest values in Sicily, Campania and Calabria (respectively 634, 603 and 447) and the lowest values in Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige (37 and 28). L'the average monthly amount of the REI disbursed in 2018, equal to 295,88 euros, varies at local level, with a range that goes from 237,01 euros for Valle d'Aosta to 327,63 euros for Campania.
As evidenced by an objective examination the ReI it wasn't a failure. The real limit of him has been highlighted, in his own essay ''Reforms halved'', Marco Leonardi, economic adviser of Palazzo Chigi in the XVII Legislature. The ReI – a more organic and less messy measure than the RdC and aimed only at tackling poverty – it arrived too late and with scarce resources available. ''In January 2017, when the witness passed from Renzi to Gentiloni, the enabling law on poverty was still to be discussed in the Senate, with no certainty about the timing, so much so that there was the risk of going to the elections without having finished the process. An agreement was found - continues Leonardi - not without some difficulty which envisaged the government's commitment to write the implementing decrees very quickly ... .. in exchange for the renunciation by the Senate of not presenting amendments to the enabling bill'' .
In practice, on 1 December 2017 the REI became operational (but entered into force on the following 1 January), but effective publicity was not organized and, above all, the elections were now a few months away. In essence, Leonardi argues, if the scale of priorities had put the adoption of an anti-poverty instrument before other measures, perhaps things would have gone differently. Also because the theme had already been known for some time (ROC) on which the M5S would have carried out the electoral campaign.
At this point it seems appropriate to put a compare the results achieved by the ReI with those (until now) attributable to the basic income, without forgetting that the latter institute is of recent establishment and that it may have further developments. Also because it enjoys greater resources than ReI. However, there are strong elements of analogy, above all in the (not only) territorial distribution of the beneficiaries.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, the president of INPS, Pasquale Tridico provided the following data: “As of April 12, around 640 applications had been processed…..The acceptance rate is 75%. So there are already 480 RDC cards that will be loaded between 20 and 25 April and distributed to the post office, to which will be added the other cards that will result from the almost 200 applications that we will examine in these days ". The average amount is "up to now 520 euros per family, with a maximum of 1.380 euros per month, and 40. Considering - he explained - that the resources for the RDC are much higher than the poverty gap estimated at 4,9 billion and that the 'check will help reduce the inequality index, I consider it a great achievement''. A few days later, on April 24, Tridico provided other considerations in an interview with Radio Capital, commenting on a certain disappointment circulated in the presence of the first data on access to the RdC: "The average amount of Citizenship Income it will be 520 euros per household" while "to date applications have been received for 900 households". Tridico does not see a number of requests lower than expected. “According to the estimates of the technical report, there should have been 1,3 million – he admits – but in the first month of activation of the Rei, 80 thousand applications arrived, in March 2019 they had become 475 thousand. Today, however, we are starting directly from the 65% potential”. As for the final disbursement, the INPS president recalls that "many Italians own a house or use it without declaring the rent because they don't pay it". So “the amount drops from 780 to 500 euros – he underlines – and I have always said that the income will cost less than expected. In the end if the numbers are these, the final cost will be around 7 billion”. And “there could be a saving of one billion, also due to the rejection rate which is around 25%. And this saving - he observed - should remain on the social one", since income "is a measure of social benefit".
The Ministry of Labor has provided more detailed data in an official statement. '' The numbers – it is written – include both online applications and those received at post offices and those collected by the CAF. As of 7 April 2019, there are 806.878 applications already uploaded by INPS on the platform in relation to requests for Citizenship Income: 433.270 came from women (54%) and 373.608 from men (46%). With reference to the age of the applicants, the largest percentage is nestled in age group between 45 and 67 years with just over 61% (494.213 applications), followed by those aged between 25 and 40, with 182.100 applications (just under 23%). The rest is distributed among the over 67s (105.699 applications, slightly higher than 13%) and just over 3% among those under 25''. Obviously the collection of questions and registrations is not closed, since the RdC is structural in nature. It must also be recognized that this first phase (thanks to the agreements with the Post Office and with the Caf) was managed without those organizational problems that were feared with long queues at the counters and so on. The distribution of applications confirms the expected effects as regards the regions of the South and women, while 3% of under 25s are an eyesore (especially when added to 23% of the 25-40 cohorts). There is a bit of undisguised disappointment out there in government circles.
Since January 14 I've been waiting for an answer to the question presented for rei