Poverty and wealth among working households in Italy: Three decades of cumulation of disadvantages

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Marianna Filandri, Emanuela Struffolino
Publishing Year 2021 Issue 2021/161 Language Italian
Pages 25 P. 97-121 File size 453 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2021-161006
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The literature on in-work poverty has so far focused on household income as indi-cator of economic disadvantage. To grasp multidimensional economic hardship and social vulnerability of working poor households, this contribution considers the trends in the amount and in the composition of wealth between poor and non-poor families between 1991 and 2016 in Italy. Furthermore, we analysis the interaction between in-work poverty and wealth levels and components by age group over time. The results show that working poor families are also more likely to be less wealthy. The gap is larger for real assets and negative wealth. The wealth gap be-tween poor families for almost all wealth components has increased until 2006 and it reduces starting from 2012. This trend is mainly due to the increase and then to the decrease in wealth for non-poor households. Finally, we show that the asso-ciation between in-work poverty and low levels of wealth is stronger among younger families.

Keywords: Working Poor, Indagine sui Bilanci delle Famiglie, Wealth, In-work poverty

  1. Barbera F., Dagnes J. e Salento A. (2016) Se questo è un lavoro. Meccanismi estrattivi e pratiche di resistenza. Sociologia del Lavoro, 142: 7-26. DOI: 10.3280/SL2016-14200
  2. Bartiloro L., Rampazzi C. (2013) Il risparmio e la ricchezza delle famiglie italiane durante la crisi. Questioni di Economia e Finanza, Occasional papers - Banca d’Italia, 148.
  3. Bartus T. (2005). Estimation of Marginal Effects Using Margeff. Stata Journal, 5, 3: 1-23. DOI: 10.1177/1536867X050050030
  4. Bengt F., Marianne B. (2003). Attitudes towards the unemployed. An analysis of Swedish survey data. International Journal of Social Welfare, 12, 3: 193-203.
  5. Berton, F., Richiardi, M. e Sacchi, S. (2009). Flex-insecurity. Perché in Italia la flessibilità diventa precarietà. Il Mulino: Bologna.
  6. Bialowolski P., Weziak-Bialowolska D. (2014). The Index of Household Financial Condition, Combining Subjective and Objective Indicators: An Appraisal of Italian Households. Social Indicators Research, 118, 1: 365-85.
  7. Brandolini A., Cannari L., D'Alessio G. e Faiella I. (2004) Household wealth distribution in Italy in the 1990s. Temi di discussione del Servizio Studi - Banca d'Italia, 530.
  8. Brandolini A., Magri S. e Smeeding T.M. (2010). Asset-Based Measurement of Poverty. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29, 2: 267-284.
  9. Brulé G., Suter C., a cura di (2019). Wealth(s) and Subjective Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series. Cham: Springer.
  10. Cantillon B. (2011). The paradox of the social investment state: growth, employment and poverty in the Lisbon era. Journal of European Social Policy, 21, 5: 432-449. DOI: 10.1177/0958928711418856
  11. Chiuri M.C., Jappelli T. (2003). Financial Market Imperfections and Home Ownership: A Comparative Study. European Economic Review, 47, 5: 857-75. DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2921(02)00273-8
  12. Crettaz E. (2013). A state-of-the-art review of working poverty in advanced economies: theoretical models, measurement issues and risk groups. Journal of European Social Policy, 23, 4: 347-362. DOI: 10.1177/0958928713507470
  13. D’alessio G. (2012). Ricchezza e disuguaglianza in Italia. Questioni di Economia e Finanza, Occasional papers - Banca d'Italia, 115.
  14. Dagnes J., Filandri M. e Storti L. (2018). Social class and wealth inequality in Italy over 20 years, 1993–2014. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 23, 2: 176-198. DOI: 10.1080/1354571X.2018.1427945
  15. Dannefer D. (2003). Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 58, 6: S327-S337.
  16. Diemer M.A., Marchand A.D. e Mistry R.S. (2020). Charting How Wealth Shapes Educational Pathways from Childhood to Early Adulthood: A Developmental Process Model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 5: 1073-1091.
  17. Doren C., Grodsky E. (2016). What Skills Can Buy: Transmission of Advantage through Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills. Sociology of Education, 89, 4: 321-342. DOI: 10.1177/0038040716667994
  18. Eurofound (2017). In-work poverty in the EU. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
  19. European Commission (2017). European semester thematic factsheet - Women in the labour market.
  20. Eurostat (2010). In-Work Poverty in EU. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
  21. Filandri M., Olagnero M. e Semi G. (2020). Casa dolce casa? Italia, un paese di proprietari. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  22. Filandri M., Struffolino E. (2013). Working Poor. Lavoratori con basso salario o occupati che vivono in famiglie povere? Un’analisi del fenomeno in Italia prima e dopo la crisi. Sociologia del Lavoro, 121: 190-205. DOI: 10.3280/SL2013-131012
  23. Frick J. e Grabka M. (2009). Wealth Inequality on the Rise in Germany. Weekly Report, 5, 10: 62-73.
  24. Gallino L. (2011). Finanzcapitalismo. Torino: Einaudi.
  25. Gori C. (2020). Combattere la povertà. L’Italia dalla Social card al Covid-19. Bari: Laterza.
  26. Grotti R. e Scherer S. (2014). Accumulation of Employment Instability Among Partners—Evidence from Six EU Countries. European Sociological Review, 30, 5: 627-639.
  27. Haveman R., Wolff E.N. (2005). The concept and measurement of asset poverty: Levels, trends and composition for the U.S., 1983-2001. The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2, 2: 145-169.
  28. Headey B. (2019). Wealth Influences Life Satisfaction More Than Income: A Supplement to The Easterlin Paradox. In: Brulé G. e Suter C., a cura di, Wealth(s) and Subjective Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series. Cham: Springer.
  29. Istat (2020). Anni 2016-2019. Pil e indebitamento. -- www.istat.it/it/files/2020/03/Pil-Indebitamento-Ap.pdf
  30. Jäntti M., Sierminska Eva M. e Van Kerm P. (2015). Modeling the Joint Distribution of Income and Wealth. Measurement of Poverty, Deprivation, and Economic Mobility, 23: 301-327.
  31. Jappelli T., Pistaferri L. (2000). The Dynamics of Household Wealth Accumulation in Italy. Fiscal Studies, 21, 2: 269-295.
  32. Killewald A., Pfeffer F.T. e Schachner J.N. (2017). Wealth Inequality and Accumulation. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 1: 379-404.
  33. Kuypers S., Marx I. (2018). Estimation of Joint Income-Wealth Poverty: A Sensitivity Analysis. Social Indicators Research, 136, 1: 117-137.
  34. León M., Pavolini E. e Guillén A.M. (2015). Welfare Rescaling in Italy and Spain: Political Strategies to Deal with Harsh Austerity. European Journal of Social Security, 17, 2:. 182-201. DOI: 10.1177/138826271501700203
  35. Lersch P.M. (2017). Individual Wealth and Subjective Financial Well-being in Marriage: Resource Integration or Separation?. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79, 5: 1211-1223.
  36. Lohmann H., Marx I., a cura di (2018). Handbook on In-Work Poverty. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  37. Meriküll J., Kukk M. e Rõõm T. (2020). What explains the gender gap in wealth? Evidence from administrative data. Review of Economics of the Household.
  38. Moiso V. (2014). La vulnerabilità e il denaro: contesti istituzionali e pratiche familiari. articolo presentato a: «Convegno Espanet Italia». Torino, 18-20 Settembre.
  39. Molina J.A., Giménez J.I. e Velilla J. (2018). Intra-Household Wealth and Welfare Inequality in the US: Estimations from a Collective Model of Labor Supply. IZA Discussion Paper, 11707: -- Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3234230.
  40. Peña-Casas R., Latta M. (2004). Working poor in the European Union. Denmark: Eurofound.
  41. Pfeffer F.T., Killewald A. (2017). Generations of Advantage. Multigenerational Correlations in Family Wealth. Social Forces, 96, 4: 1411-1442.
  42. Phipps S. e Woolley F. (2008). Control over money and the savings decisions of Canadian households. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 37, 2: 592-611.
  43. Piketty T. (2014). Il capitale nel XXI secolo. Milano: Bompiani.
  44. Raitano M.J., Pavolini E. e Natili M. (2019). ESPN Thematic Report on In- work poverty – Italy, European Social Policy Network. Brussels: European Commission.
  45. Raitano M., Struffolino E. (2013), Traiettorie lavorative e salariali a inizio carriera in Italia: uno studio longitudinale. Stato e Mercato, 3: 389-422. DOI: 10.1425/75011
  46. Salento A. e Dagnes J. (2016). La finanziarizzazione dell’economia e la nuova struttura della disuguaglianza. In: Longo M., Spina F., a cura di, La passione per la società. Studi per Marcello Strazzeri. Lecce: Pensa.
  47. Salverda W. (2018). Low earnings and their drivers in relation to in-work poverty. In: Lohmann H., Marx I., a cura di, Handbook on In-Work Poverty, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  48. Saraceno C. (2015). The fate of anti-poverty policies between austerity and Europe 2020 targets. Stato e mercato, 1: 29-52. DOI: 10.1425/79490
  49. Strati F. (2010). Italy: In-work Poverty and Labour Market Segmentation. Brussels: European Commission: -- www.srseuropa.eu/eng/publications/IT_report_in_work_ poverty_2010.pdf.
  50. Wooldridge J.M. (2002). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge and London: MIT Press.

  • Atypical work, financial assets, and asset poverty in Germany Claudia Colombarolli, Philipp M. Lersch, in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 100803/2023 pp.100803
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2023.100803

Marianna Filandri, Emanuela Struffolino, Povertà e ricchezza tra le famiglie di lavoratori in Italia: trent’anni di svantaggio cumulativo in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 161/2021, pp 97-121, DOI: 10.3280/SL2021-161006