The Italian Social Protection System: The Poverty of Welfare
Electronic Access:
Free Download. Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF file
Summary:
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.
Series:
Working Paper No. 1998/074
Subject:
Aging Expenditure Income Labor National accounts Pension spending Pensions Personal income Population and demographics
English
Publication Date:
May 1, 1998
ISBN/ISSN:
9781451849561/1018-5941
Stock No:
WPIEA0741998
Pages:
50
Please address any questions about this title to publications@imf.org