Il reddito di cittadinanza tra contrasto alla povertà e politiche attive del lavoro

The essay analyses, also in a comparative key, the Italian discipline of the guaranteed minimum income (so called “reddito di cittadinanza”) in the light of the purposes pursued by this measure. In this perspective, it focuses on the conditions for accessing the minimum income, finding a gap between the aims pursued by the legislator and their realization, which ends up excluding or penalizing particularly fragile categories of subjects (in particular, some categories of foreigners, homeless and large families). This leads to recognize the distinctive feature of the Italian measure in the “workfare approach” which derives both from the qualification in terms of active labour-market policy and from the rigid declination of the principle of conditionality. However, the dependence of the minimum income on reintegration into work seems to be weakened by the current inefficiency of the job centres and by the delays in the implementation of the system that should govern this benefit.