Italian households receiving Citizens' and Pensioners' Basic Income 2019-2023

The Basic Income was launched in Italy in March 2019 to reduce poverty and unemployment. The allowance was distributed to one person per household whose annual income and assets did not exceed 9,360 euros. The recipients were then obliged to actively search for employment with the support of qualified job centers. Hence, it was a form of guaranteed minimum income, and not a universal basic income, as strict obligations had to be met for the allowance to be regularly paid. In 2023, almost 1.4 million households in Italy benefited from the Citizens' or Pensioners' Basic Income. The turnout of beneficiaries largely expanded between 2020 and 2022, due to the labor crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. For both social services, the southern regions were those mostly affected nationwide. In December 2023, the measure was abolished and substituted with other subsidies with different requirements.