The Italian Social Protection System: The Poverty of Welfare

Massimo Rostagno and Francesca Utili

No 1998/074, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: Italy’s system of social protection has come under criticism for being fragmented and excessively skewed toward pensioners and “insiders.” After setting up a consolidated presentation of the social security accounts, this paper provides an empirical assessment of the effectiveness of the welfare system, relying on a survey of households’ incomes and wealth. It concludes that, owing to ill-designed targeting mechanisms, less than a quarter of total spending on the welfare instruments under review accrues to families whose own resources fall short of the poverty line. The paper then proposes a new means-testing formula.

Keywords: WP; poverty line; labor market; social insurance; early retirement; pension regime; Social protection; vertical and horizontal efficiency; means-testing formula; pension system; seniority pension; social security; benchmark system; guarantee scheme; unemployment compensation; Pensions; Pension spending; Income; Personal income; Aging; Northern Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50
Date: 1998-05-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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