ABSTRACT
The Italian welfare state is the paradigmatic example of the south European model, with the following features: highly fragmented social protection schemes (related to their Bismarckian roots); a public health care system based on universal rights; transfer-heavy and service-light social programmes (consistent with the key role of the family in the provision of the latter); wide protection for some occupational categories (insiders) while other groups (outsiders) are underprotected; the porosity of the public administration to partisan interests consistent with low effectiveness and major frauds and abuses (Ferrera, 1996). While our analysis confirms these traits, there have been significant evolutions in the last two decades, suggesting the emergence of a new welfare configuration in Italy. Recent reforms have consisted of the first (but still limited) recalibration of social spending (between generous social insurance and underdeveloped social assistance programmes), the greater flexibility of the labour market and the decentralization of competencies from central to regional and local government. The chapter is structured as follows: the first part briefly introduces the emergence and
evolution of welfare and labour market programmes between the end of the nineteenth century and the ‘golden age’ of Keynesian welfare after the Second World War. In line with the Italian literature on social policy, the term welfare state mainly refers to three fields: social insurance (pensions, unemployment, family allowances, etc.), health care and social assistance (cash benefits and services). With some exceptions, education and housing are not treated as part of it (Ferrera, 2006). After a brief summary of the rapid increase of problems and strains in the last part of
the twentieth century, part two shows the main lines of action over the last two decades and the welfare status quo, with particular reference to: social insurance, health care, social assistance and labour market policy. Given the huge financial weight of old age, survival and disability schemes, in the following we focus on pensions as the key part of social insurance schemes. Unemployment benefits will be analysed within the section on labour market policy. Part three concludes with some remarks on the present and future evolution of the welfare state in Italy.
