Abstract

The article proposes a multilevel discussion of the new social card and offers a reflection on the path towards a national measure against poverty. Three dimensions should be taken into account, all of them closely intertwined, yet to be analytically distinguished in order to contextualize this new measure against poverty and its limits. The first dimension concerns the connection of the new social card with plans to contrast poverty developed by the European Union. Secondly, there is the need to reflect on the deep, variegated and yet unexplored effects of the long economic crisis on our social system and its institutional structures. The third dimension to think about is represented by the issue of governance, to understand which model could offer an effective management and implementation of the measure on the national and local levels.