Abstract

The so-called “Reddito di cittadinanzaµ (RdC), a sort of “minimum incomeµ, has triggered an intense political and scientific debate. Its implementation is closely linked with Public Employment Services (PESs), which in Italy are notoriously uneven in their performances. PESs are well financed but the compliance with the conditionality principle, which creates a series of bureaucratic barriers, once again diverts them from their institutional mission. The choice of a single measure to ensure employment and fight against poverty makes the implementation design particularly complex as it is vulnerable to the criticalities typically affecting a network that involves too many actors. The paper aims to analyse, from a comparative point of view, the evolution of the employment services system, as well as the critical issues arising from the implementation of RdC.