Approximately 169,000 families across Italy received SMS messages at the end of July notifying them of the sudden termination of allowances they had been receiving for the past four years, Euronews has reported.
The benefits, which will be canceled for all families not having disabled members, minors, or individuals over 65, are part of the controversial "reddito di cittadinanza" or "citizen's income" program, which provides monthly allowances to low-income families and unemployed individuals.
The social welfare program was introduced in 2019 by the government of Giuseppe Conte, a member of the "Five Star Movement" (M5S) party, and is currently being phased out by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni. Citizen's income was one of the main promises made by the Five Star Movement before coming to power in 2019, despite generating deep divisions and strong opposition from the right-wing.
Meloni announced her decision to tighten the social security system immediately after assuming office as Italy's new Prime Minister last year, stating that it would be fully abolished for unemployed individuals aged 18 to 59 by January 1, 2024. "We want to turn assistance into employment," she declared during a press conference in November 2022.
"There are people who have been receiving subsidies for three years; the state should help these individuals find jobs."
Former Prime Minister Conte, under whose leadership Italy experienced the Covid crisis, criticized Meloni's decision, accusing her of "playing with people's lives" and pointing out that it would be difficult for those aged 50 and 60, who currently rely on citizen's income, to retrain and find new jobs.
According to the Italian news outlet Rai News, an additional 80,000 families will lose their allowances in August and September.
The deluge of SMS messages informing families that they will no longer receive allowances has sparked intense protests in the southern city of Naples and the surrounding region, where the largest number of recipients resides.
Hundreds of recipients have been calling the offices of the National Institute of Social Security (INPS) in the region, seeking more detailed explanations than the brief content of the SMS. In one of INPS's offices in Naples, police were called after reports of a physical altercation between two individuals.
The message sent to thousands of families stated: "Request for citizen's income has been suspended in accordance with Article 48 of Decree 20/23, pending action by social services." In the original Italian version, the message consists of just 24 words.
Starting from September 1, those who lost their allowances will receive 350 euros per month for training in employment centers.
The suspension of citizen's income has triggered heated debates in the Italian Parliament, with Conte accusing Meloni's "Brothers of Italy" and the coalition government of attempting to "break up the country."
Legislator and economist Maria Cecilia Guerra from the center-left Democratic Party (DP) stated that the desperation sparked by the notorious SMS about the suspension of citizen's income is not caused by the SMS itself but rather the government's inability to address the issue of unemployment.
In June, Italy's unemployment rate decreased to 7.4%, and the total number of employed individuals in the country reached 23.59 mn, a 0.3% increase. Despite the positive trend, Italy's unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the European Union, with an average rate of 5.9% in the bloc as of June 2023.
Follow Daryo's official Instagram and Threads pages to keep up to date on world news.
Comments (0)