Animare il dibattito sulla povertà con metodo e rigore scientifico

To comment what it has been written by an authoritative and engaged intellectual like Chiara Saraceno is not a simple task. In fact, there are many points to share in the criticism of the new measure against absolute poverty put into effect by the Meloni government. Briefly, we will extrapolate some points of Chiara Saraceno’s analysis, that we consider more than shareable: the excessive emphasis on employment; the iniquity that distinguishes Law 85/2023; the difficulty in accessibility to the measure. It does not seem an exaggeration to say, as Saraceno does, that the loss of the universalism of the measure corresponds to its worsening compared to the previous one. Therefore, we feel strongly that there is a need to revive the debate on poverty throughout the country. We must continue to work on a change of cultural paradigm to ensure that the difficulty of getting out of any form of need can’t be solely reduced to an economic problem, a lack of employment or, even worse, a problem of investment in the budget of the state and its territories. This change of vision requires a clear and farsighted reflection on poverty, which is intended to inspire and orient policies that are truly capable of combating it. We welcome, therefore, the debate on poverty and anti-poverty measures taken up in these pages, aimed at the development of new ideas and proposals contributing to defend non-negotiable principles such as universalism.

Keywords: Poverty, Universalism, Rights, Alliance

Antonio Russo, Animare il dibattito sulla povertà con metodo e rigore scientifico in "PRISMA Economia - Società - Lavoro" 1-2/2023, pp 130-135, DOI: 10.3280/PRI2024-001010