Abstract

The subject of this paper is a reflection on the characteristics of local welfare systems from the perspective of Flavia Franzoni’s study. Franzoni’s careful analysis of the creation of the first universalistic service (family conuseling) for families and women provides an opportunity to reconstruct the political, institutional and cultural framework that marked the transfer of social welfare functions to the regions in Italy, giving rise to a specific model of local welfare. What seems to be constant is the interest in family policies and the difficulties that the political system shows in intercepting the real needs of families with children, as seen in their normal daily life. Difficulties that may be aggravated by the expansion of the pool of entities providing social services under the principle of horizontal subsidiarity.