The Italian Case: From Employment Regulation to Welfare Reforms?

Abstract

This article on the Italian case is based on recent trends in labour market reform. We critically review the reform approach adopted in recent years, mainly centred on marginal legislative reforms in employment contracts. The diffusion of flexible labour contracts, especially among the younger generations and women, together with a welfare system still based on employment seniority and job characteristics, have reinforced the segmentation of the Italian labour market and social inequalities. The absence of a negotiating strategy in introducing reforms has also increased social conflict. These trends ask for a comprehensive reform of the welfare system and for active policies to support labour market transitions, a reform which is increasingly considered in the current political debate. A Highly Segmented Labour MarketThe Italian labour market in 2006 is still characterized by structural weaknesses compared to many other European countries. As shown in table 1 , activity and employment rates are still below the EU 15 average and Lisbon targets, especially for women, young people and the older population.The segmentation across gender, age and territory is still very high:• gender gaps in employment rates reach 24 percentage points, with employment rates for males at 70 . 5 per cent relative to 46 . 3 per cent for females; • age gaps in employment rates are also much higher than in other EU countries, going from 76 . 3 per cent in the 35 -44 age bracket, to 25 . 5 per cent for young people ( 15 -25 years old) and 32 . 5 per cent for those aged 55 -64 ;

State–Society Relationships, Social Trust and the Development of Labour Market Policies in Italy and Sweden

“…From the employers' point of view, individual dismissals are a highly cumbersome procedure with an uncertain outcome. This explains their preference for non-standard forms of labour contracts (Ferrera and Gualmini 2004;Samek-Lodovici and Semenza 2008).…”

Introduction: two decades of structural reform and political change in Italy and Japan

“…A series of reforms were put into effect, including the 1991 reform of collective dismissals, the 1997 Treu package, the 2003 Biagi reform and the 2007 Protocol for welfare system reform. However, attempts to reform the social security and pension systems have struggled against diffused interests because of 'large consensus based politics' and 'financial non-sustainability' (Lodovici and Semenza, 2007).…”

Choosing Welfare or Losing Social Citizenship? Citizens' Free Choice in Recent Italian Welfare State Reforms

“…In very general terms, there is a broad consensus in the literature on the new trend of Italian employment policy regulation towards more flexibility for ‘outsiders’ or ‘newcomers’ (i.e. those who are unemployed or are being employed for the first time), maintaining security for ‘older’ workers and increasing unemployment benefits for the ‘standard’ 5 workers (Ferrera and Gualmini 2004; Graziano 2007; Samek Lodovici and Semenza 2008). More specifically, two important reforms have taken place over the past 15 years: the Law 196/1997 and the Law 30/2003.…”

“…No (implicit or explicit) reference is made to workers' preferences, taking for granted that the goals will be shared by all the political and social actors involved. And, indeed, they might have been shared – also by the precarious workers – if in connection to the flexibilization of the Italian labour market more had been done on the security dimension, unlike what actually happened in Italy (Samek Lodovici and Semenza 2008; Graziano et al. 2008).…”