Welfare state and occupational welfare

Abstract

The article draws upon the main results of the Report on Welfare State 2019 edited by the Author. The first part analyses occupational welfare which involves the following aspects: the historical context of the most comprehensive state-market relations in which it developed; the reasons and the economic and social effects of the spread of occupational welfare; the areas of intervention and the dimensions it has assumed in various countries and in Italy; the connections with the welfare state; the links with employer-trade union relationships, productivity trends, decentralized wage bargaining and wage trends; and the effects on inequalities in access to social goods and services. The following two sections examine the social and economic policies implemented in Europe and Italy, and the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of expenditure. In particular, we explore: trends and policies regarding: the labor market; demographic and migration trends; education and healthcare; social safety networks; inequalities; the policies aimed at reducing poverty; and the basic guaranteed citizens’ income (reddito di cittadinanza) a measure recently introduced in Italy. Finally, the analysis focuses on the measures adopted by the Italian Government in relation to the pension system, as well as the forecasts, problems and recommendations concerning public and private systems.