Italians who turn down work will lose benefits, says Meloni
Prime minister introduces measure to withhold £675 monthly payment in first budget since taking office
ITALIANS who refuse job offers will lose their benefits, the hard-right government announced, arguing that the welfare system is too often abused.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s new prime minister, is to clamp down on a poverty relief scheme called the citizens’ income, arguing that it encourages idleness and has been widely abused, including by convicted mafia criminals.
The initiative was introduced in 2019 by the Five Star Movement, a populist party that was part of a previous government but is now in opposition.
More than 3.5million Italians receive the €780 (£675) monthly payment, of which more than 2.3 million live in the struggling south, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
Announcing her first budget, Ms Meloni said she would pare back the scheme, saying that it had reduced incentives for people to find jobs and that those able to work should no longer be eligible for the handout.
They will be granted the welfare payment for a maximum of eight months next year, after which the system will be overhauled, starting in January 2024.
“We’re keeping our pledges with respect to the citizens’ wage, which is a bad measure,” said Ms Meloni.
“The state cannot put those who can and those who cannot work on the same level.”
Since the scheme started, there have been numerous cases of the benefit being claimed by people who have no right to it.
In August, police in Sicily arrested over 100 people, including several with convictions for Mafia-associated crimes, for fraudulently claiming the citizens’ wage to the tune of €1.5million.
This month the finance police said that while carrying out routine checks of wealthy yacht owners they had found several who had been claiming the benefit. The Guardia di Finanza carried out the checks on boats cruising along the coast between Rome and Naples and discovered 13 individuals, including a company director, who had fraudulently pocketed the handout.
The swoop was announced as the government approved next year’s budget, one of the first tests of the new alliance between Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and two other conservative parties – the League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. The bill, aimed at curbing rocketing energy bills and cutting taxes, will now go to parliament, which must pass it by the end of the year.
The €35billion spending measures include an increased windfall tax on the profits made by energy companies, which have benefited from the surge in oil and gas prices. The government will also allocate more than €21billion next year to help firms and households pay their gas and electricity bills.
A state-backed company, previously put into liquidation, will be revived to oversee the construction of a bridge from the toe of the Italian boot to Sicily, a project mooted for decades. There is also an amnesty on tax arrears of up to €1,000, as long as they date to before 2016. Critics of the scheme said such measures only serve to encourage tax avoidance.
Ms Meloni has, in the past, called for Italy to ditch the euro, but since being elected in September has tried to present herself as a safe pair of hands at a time of global economic instability.
The budget was assessed by analysts as being prudent and responsible.
It signals “a degree of fiscal restraint in line with… Meloni’s broader efforts to reassure markets and the EU over the direction of fiscal policy”, said Federico Santi, an analyst with the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy.
The prime minister also introduced measures to boost Italy’s low birthrate, including a 50 per cent increase in baby bonus payments for parents.
‘The state cannot put those who can and those who cannot work on the same level’