ABSTRACT
“Socially useful jobs” were introduced back in 1981 with reference to redundant workers from public infrastructure projects in Southern Italy. When discussing the workfare component of 1990s Italian unemployment policies, one can hardly avoid talk about “socially useful jobs.” In sharp contrast with the Anglo-Saxon countries, the workfare logic has only very crept into the political debate and its impact on policy measures is still very mild and quite contradictory. The unquestionable result is a severe mismatch between social needs on the one hand and institutional capabilities and policy responses on the other. The behavior of Regional Employment Commissions in charge of approving local projects is even more indicative as it openly undermined the goals officially stated in the law. The aim of the relevant law was to allow workers receiving short-term compensation to top-up their earnings by engaging in community jobs organized by public agencies.
