Abstract

The Italian government has recently reformed the means-testing criteria which are applied in the provision of social services and cash benefits, mainly at a local level (kindergartens, local forms of minimum income, nursing homes for the elderly, etc.). The new version of the so-called "Indicator of Equivalent Economic Situation" (Indicatore della Situazione Economica Equivalente - ISEE), which is still based on a joint test of incomes and wealth at the household level, promises, at least on paper, to correct many of the shortcomings of the current system. The aim of this note is to analyze the main characteristics of the reform and envisage its potential gainers and losers.