The impact of income support measures on material deprivation: the case of Italy

The topic of measures to fight against poverty is one of the most debated by decision-makers, commentators, and insiders in Italy. After a short life, despite the increase in poverty and inequalities in Italy, the universal income support measures were abolished in 2023. This paper presents a counterfactual impact evaluation of the Inclusion Income (II), Italy’s first income support measure, on severe material deprivation from 2017 to 2021. We rely on a novel database collected from a survey addressed to beneficiary and non-beneficiary but eligible families of universal income support measures in Italy. Our results show a positive impact of the monetary benefit on the probability of not being severely materially deprived in 2019 but not in 2021. The in-kind part of the benefits, namely the socio-economic reinsertion personalized project, is, instead, effective after 2019, confirming its importance in addressing structural disadvantages and providing a long-term solution to material deprivation for the most disadvantaged groups. Results also show that the in-kind benefit is more effective in the South. Policy implications concerning the potential effectiveness of the polices replacing the II are discussed.