eventi_rps_multi_inglese
19-21 settembre 2013, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS)
19-21 settembre 2013, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS)
In un tempo in cui l’incertezza sul futuro condiziona drammaticamente l’Unione Europea la conferenza si interroga sulla sua integrazione sociale e politica.
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tags_rps_multi_english
anziani
immigrazione
welfare
politiche socio-assistenziali
lavoro
Unione europea
cittadinanza
welfare locale
occupazione
politiche sociali
povertà
sindacato
Italia
servizi sociali
welfare state
governance
famiglia
economia
corso di vita
protezione sociale
politiche familiari
Europa
mercato del lavoro
sistema socio-sanitario
politiche per la non autosufficienza
Working poor
Characteristics, policies, effects on pensions
2
2012
April - June
Description
Scritto da:
Why deal with working poor? One might say that those without a job are much worse off, particularly in a country like Italy where there continue to be widespread gaps in the system of social protection and where there is no safety net. But it is difficult to set up hierarchies of disadvantages, above all when various factors come together: how, for example, do we evaluate the situation of a low-paid worker who might be a little better off than someone without a job, but who earns his wage in working conditions that are dangerous or demeaning and sometimes with hours of work that seriously restrict the possibility of a family life? The new number of RPS tackles the problem from various points of view, first of all focusing on the dimensions and characteristics of working poor, in Italy above all, describing and evaluating specific corrective policies. The first section offers five contributions from economists who analyse the incidence and characteristics of lworking poor in the framework of the progress of wages, both comparatively and in Italy. The second and third sections are wholly given over to the subject of policies to tackle poverty.
To buy this issue go to the italian version
Italy and Oecd countries. Working poor and pensioners: economy labour market wages
Market Retribution in Oecd Countries
This work aims to describe the course of salaries in the main Oecd countries during the last few decades. It considers both the dynamics of income levels and differentials. The second part of the work considers
the characteristics of low-paid workers in some European countries and those of workers whose family income is at poverty level.
The «White Witch» and Elusive Inequality: Salaries in Italy
The article offers an integrated year-by-year reading of the recent development
of salaries in Italy, in relation both to gross incomes by
contract, and «actual» («market») ones. The salient fact is the immobility
of real gross earnings since the early 1990s. There are, however,
some nuances to this general picture as regards the macro-areas of the
economy (industry, private services, public administration). The inequality
which increased in the first decade of this century is not the
traditional inequality related to gender, qualifications and age. What
have increased are the differentials in working hours, type of contract
and area. Salary inequality is also «elusive» in Italy in structural terms,
from the point of view of international comparisons. In fact, the relatively
high incidence of independent work, both unofficial and in
small companies, are all elements that tend to «cut the tails» of the
distribution curve of salaries in statistical representations. The work
ends by describing some links between the questions of income, tax
and competitiveness.
The Working Poor in Italy: How many there are, who they are, how poor they are
Using the It-Silc figures for the period 2004-2008 this article is one of the first attempts to quantify and describe the phenomenon of the working poor in Italy. It estimates the incidence and significance of
the phenomenon and the main determinants of both with reference to types of poor workers: a. individuals with income from their work below the threshold b. workers with a disposable family income below
the threshold considered in relation to three different poverty thresholds: 40-50-60% of the average wage. The article estimates a headcount ratio of around 12,8% in the five years 2004-2008 with income
below the threshold of 60% of average income, equal to 9000 euro gross per year. The poverty gap index estimated is equal to 27% of the threshold (around 2000 euro gross per year). Working hours
being equal, women, immigrants, fixed-term workers and the young are those most at risk of poverty. For the young it is estimated that, on average, the likelihood of emerging from poverty is significantly
lowered only around the age of 33.
The Early Career Years: Atypical Jobs, Poorly Paid and with Low Contributions. The Evidence of a Panel of Italian Workers
The problems concerning the vulnerability of younger workers are
usually only evaluated by observing how many of them at any given
moment are unemployed or employed with short-term contracts, in
this way failing to analyse both whether their vulnerability also depends
on low pay, and whether situations of this kind persist over
time or are transitory. This article uses an innovative databank that
makes it possible to observe some work histories in Italy involving a
wide range of individuals, who are followed from their entry into the
labour market down to more recent years, and investigates these aspects, presenting original results regarding the employment and salary
dynamics characteristic of the early years of career, evaluating in particular
the transitions between different employment states, the frequency
of low-salary periods or unemployment, and the adequacy of
the sum of contributions so far paid into the public pensions system
Italy. From Workers to Impoverished Pensioners: Welfare Protection Measures
This contribution aims to describe the current state of the law in relation
to support for poor pensioners, supply elements of analysis that
can identify the typology of future poor pensioners, and advance proposals
for reforming welfare measures for future pensioners, those
who will be totally contributory. The analysis reveals that situations of
suffering and economic deprivation will be concentrated among
workers who at the age of 70 will have accumulated fewer than 30
years of contributions. Welfare measures could usefully be reformed,
extending contribution payments to all workers in periods of unemployment.
In addition, the principle of enhancing contributions made
could be restored. That principle was completely eliminated for poor
pensioners following the overlapping of different measures over the
years.
Keyword
Work and Inquality
The inequality that is created in the labour market explains a very high
proportion of the overall inequality in disposable incomes. Starting
from this observation, the article presents a summary of the characteristics
of inequality in incomes from labour, partly with a view to
verifying, in a perspective of inequality, if the functioning of this market
complies with what is theorized in the main theoretical approaches,
or if there are significant divergences, with potentially important
consequences for the characteristics and acceptability of
inequality as well as for the planning of more effective policies to
combat it.
Lecture
A Bit Rich. Calculating the Real Value of the Professions for Society. A Report by Nef (New Economic Foundation)
After an introduction on the extent and development of income inequalities
and a short summary of some principles of Ricardo’s theory
of wage fixing and Marx’s of surplus value, what follows – kindly
made available to us by the authors and the British Nef research centre
– analyses a series of widespread economic and cultural myths behind
the social legitimization of wage inequalities. In examining each
of the ten myths, the article considers various professions that have
very different retributions and social consideration, exemplifying the
myth in question. In conclusion, the authors suggest a list of guidelines
and possible measures that would reduce the disparity in consideration
and the inequalities in wages.
The phenomenon: sociological analyses and European policies
The Working Poor. A Review of Sociological Studies
The article offers to describe the main lines of the question of the
working poor, dealing with some interpretations, identifying different
perspectives and drawing attention to some important elements of
analysis chosen from the literature on the subject. The research examined
shows the complexity and multidimensional nature of the
phenomenon. It is the co-presence of several risk factors, at micro
and macro level, that generates working poverty both directly and indirectly.
Finally, the article argues for the social significance and great
relevance of the subject and suggests it be made a specific object of
empirical research.
Income Support for Poor Workers. A Review of the Main Measures used in the Eu
The article deals with so-called in-work benefits, or employment conditional
benefits: income-support measures intended for working poor. They are programmes aimed both at reducing the poverty of workers and/or their families, in particular those with children, redistributing
resources towards low-income classes, and also encouraging
employment. Starting from the literature on the subject, the article
first reviews the programmes of this kind in European countries, and
then examines income-support measures in the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Belgium and France. It concentrates in particular on the type
of benefits, the beneficiaries, conditions of eligibility and their main
characteristics.
Keywords: working poor :: in-work benefits ::
Working poor. Income-support policies
Income Support for Poor Workers: A Self-Evident Measure of Social Justice?
In these last decades, in-work benefits have been widely adopted in
many Oecd countries, supported by a quasi-unanimous consensus as
if their justifications were substantially self-evident. Italy shows various
shortcomings on this front, even though not being immune from
in-work poverty. On the contrary, working poor risk to increase in
the current economic situation. An evaluation of in-work benefits,
thus, appears useful in order to inform future policy choices. Focusing
on the evaluation of the principles of social justice that could justify
such policies, the article discerns three possible blocs of motives.
Acknowledging the plurality of motives is important also because, depending
on the choice made, the implications for policy design could
vary.
Income Support for Poor Workers, from the Point of View of Efficiency
This article is a contribution to the literature studying the possible
tools for combating poverty. After tracing the main lines of «Making
work pay» (Mwp) schemes, there is an analysis of the main features of
Earned income tax credit (Eitc). The aim is to clarify how Eitc, which
aims to redistribute wealth, also determines responses from economic
agents that have a strong effect on efficiency. The work brings out how, on the basis of the theory of optimum taxation, the Mwp schemes can have effects in terms of efficiency in two different ways.
The first concerns the risks linked to the creation of inefficiency traps
(inactivity, unemployment, poverty), while the second concerns the
contrasting effects of Eitc in relation to the extensive margin (being
part of the labour market or not) and the intensive margin (variation
in hours worked). The possibility of being able to reconcile redistribution
and efficiency is still an open debate, useful for guiding the
preparation of optimum policies of income support.
A Revision of Income Tax to Stimulate the Labour Market
There is widespread agreement as to the desirability of lowering the
actual marginal tax rates imposed on low work incomes, both for redistributory
reasons (low income support and reduction of the growing
gap in primary distribution), and to encourage job supply, which is
regarded as particularly reactive for low income levels, especially for
women and those in southern Italy.
Given the stringent budget constraints, we can imagine a moderate
rethinking of the rates (slight reduction of the first three and slight increase
of the last two), as well as a less marked decrease in work allowances,
compensated by a halving of other allowances.
The results show an overall easing of 1 billion, with noticeable benefits
both for low and medium incomes, and for the actual marginal
rates, which would go down 4 points for incomes up to 15,000 euros
a year.
Off topic
Active Labour Policies in Western Europe: Conceptions and Development
The objective of this article is to provide an account of the development
of active labour market policy in six western European countries,
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy and the Uk. It shows
that active labour market policies are not entirely a new idea, and that
attempts to intervene directly in the functioning of the labour market
have happened as early as in the 1950s. However, the shape taken by
these interventions has changed over time. In general, one can say
that policy does follow changes in labour market problems. However,
the adaptation of policy is generally slow. In addition, political factors
may accelerate or slow down the pace of the reorientation.
Features
Observatory Europa
Observatory Europa. Periodical Note of Information on the Main News Concerning the Eu’s Social Action
Recent months have been marked by the desire to further strengthen
the coordination of economic and budgetary policy in the Second
European Semester. The other significant feature has been the renegotiation of the treaty that set up the European Stability Mechanism
(Esm) and the movement towards an international treaty between the
member states of the euro zone. At the same time, the member states
of the Union are trying to define a development plan that will go beyond
rigour, underlining the importance of investments for the
young. The few measures in the social field ate linked to a re-launch
of growth. These include the White Book on pensions, the declaration
of the Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Policies (Epsco)
and the conclusion of the tri-partite social summit. In this number we
shall also see some novelties in social security, in particular concerning
the posting of workers and the coordination of the rights of migrant
workers. One final point concerns the action of the existing international
organizations.
