By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy’s parliament attempt to ‘dismantle’ the controversial citizenship wage will open further cracks in the governing coalition and is likely to raise political instability, according to ruling party sources.
The citizenship wage – a monthly income granted to the jobless as long as they have an Italian passport – is the 5 Stars Movement’s flagship measure thanks to which it first rose to power in 2018. Now, all its ruling allies alongside the opposition are batting to dismantle it, or at least change it into a more pro-active labor policy with premier Mario Draghi trying to strike a tough compromise.
“It is unacceptable today that there are pensioners who get just EUR 500 per month and lazy jobless people who receive up to EUR 750 just because they’re Italian, with the undeniable fact that many are not entitled to such benefit and are committing a fraud”, said a League party official.
“The European Union has asked Italy to adopt active welfare policies. The citizenship income is passive, and detrimental”, he added.
The citizenship income re-funding is part of the budget law for next year which is under discussion in parliament for final approval and needs to be forwarded to the European Commission by December. The budget document already envisages stricter rules for applicants but parties in parliament aim to fully overturn it.
The League party has presented hundreds of amendments to water-down the 5 Stars’s signature policy and shift earmarked resources to fund other pro-growth labor policies. The League is supported in its anti-5 Stars crusade by all ruling allies and by the opposition far-right group Brothers of Italy.
“We need to implement welfare frameworks that are efficient and actually push the jobless to actively look for a job, instead of lazing on the sofa each day. The citizenship income is preposterous, it goes against labor market rules whereby job offer meets supply, it just drains state coffers and incentivizes people to live-off taxpayers”, said a Democrat official.
Sources noted how each year some EUR40-50 billion of public money is being “squandered and robbed” by alleged ‘jobless’ who receive the wage without having the right to it. These include known criminals, owners of Ferrari cars, multiple houses, boutiques and yachts, and singles who falsely declare to have six kids in order to get a higher benefit.
Following controls by tax authorities nearly 5,000 frauds have been discovered this tear and roughly 15 percent of those with a citizenship income are not entitled to have one, while a third should already be working. On the other hand, many poor and homeless people, argued the League official, are not even taken into account.
According to current rules beneficiaries are required to actively search for a job but can decline an offer from a job center up to three times, particularly if the workplace is too far away from their home or in another region. Also, they are free to add to their application form that they are ‘not immediately available’ but could be in the future.
The budget law has reduced the wage, cut the job offers down to just one (after which the wage is no longer paid), and intensified controls prior to paying out the monthly cheque. If a member of a family finds a job the benefit also will be cut-off, while applicants who do not declare their immediate availability to work will not be considered.
Ruling and opposition parties, however, have the required majority to weaken the measure and make it even more strict by further narrowing down requirements and the monthly wage.
“The budget law has earmarked roughly EUR 8 million to re-finance the citizenship wage this year, but it hasn’t set out the details of new specific rules. Those funds could well end up financing more efficient welfare investments and incentive fix-term contracts. That’s parliament’s job and we’re going to wage war on this”, said a Democrat official.
The 5 Stars’ controversial income has led to “a perverse mechanism whereby it’s better to stay unemployed and get EUR 750 per month rather than work for EUR 1,500; or, even worse, get the wage and work at the same time but without paying taxes. It’s just boosting black market labour”, said the League official.
The 5 Stars are adamant in defending their flagship policy and threaten to block the approval in parliament of other key growth measures.
Contact this reporter: silvia@macenews.com
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