Payments for the Inclusion Allowance are now underway, the measure aimed at families in which there is at least one minor, disabled or over-60 member, which has sent the Citizenship Income into the attic since January 1st of this year. The first accreditations will start on Friday 26 January. «The new measures to combat poverty are under attack, with an often forced reading of the data. A serious evaluation takes time: if every single case is exploited it creates confusion and disorientation”, comments the INPS extraordinary commissioner, Micaela Geleraintervening in the debate on the new measures, the Inclusion Allowance and Support for training and work.
Questions and delivery methods
So far, over 563 thousand applications have been submitted, according to the latest data provided by the INPS, of which 88% are from former recipients of Citizenship Income. The first block is that of the approximately 450 thousand applications submitted starting from 18 December and by 7 January, together with the Digital Activation Pact (Pad): from next Friday the payments of those who have passed the checks will start. The potential audience of the new measure is 737 thousand households. The average estimated amount is 635 euros. The ADI will be paid with the Inclusion Card: the allowance can be recognized for 18 months and renewed, after a one-month stop, for a further 12 months. The next calendar has already been set: after the first slot of January 26th, for applications submitted starting from January 8th and by January 31st (with the Pad signed by the same date), the first payment will arrive from February 15th; for applications submitted in February (and so on), the first payment will be made from the 15th of the month following the month in which the Pad is signed up. Once fully operational, payment will be made for everyone on the 27th of the relevant month. Of the groups that have so far made the ADI request, again on the basis of INPS data, almost half are concentrated in two regions, as has already happened for Citizenship Income: Campania (26.7%) and Sicily (21.8%). Following, among other regions: 9.6% comes from Puglia, 8.1% from Lazio, 7.7% from Calabria and 6.2% from Lombardy. The Adi has been in force since January 1st 2024, but the possibility of sending applications was brought forward to December 18th.
The numbers
A new tool which, as repeatedly supported by the Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Marina Calderone, changes the approach with respect to Citizenship Income, aiming to be economic support and social and work inclusion. The opposition doesn’t think so, with the M5s in the lead, father of the Income, which has long highlighted how with the ADI the number of beneficiaries is halved. On the resources front, around 5.5 billion have been allocated for the Inclusion Allowance for 2024 and 1.5 billion for Training and Work Support (Sfl), the other instrument launched on 1 September last aimed at employable people ( 350 euros per month for a maximum of 12 months). The applications submitted so far for Support are almost 165 thousand, of which just over 68 thousand have been accepted. «The purposes of the measures are different and the audiences are different. – explains Gelera – Above all, the approach is different: today the attempt to build a perspective of social and working inclusion for the individuals and families involved has been put at the centre; a longer, more solid path that includes the right controls.” Gelera highlights that «it is the choice between quick and effective but not very conclusive solutions and the investment in a project which, without neglecting the most fragile families, does not treat the individual components indiscriminately, evaluating their critical issues and potential. Anyone who can work has the right to be accompanied towards an activation path. It doesn’t escape us that we still need the right balance.”