Reddito di cittadinanza e disponibilità a trasferirsi per lavoro

The new national policy to fight poverty, the ‘Citizenship Income’ (Rdc), consists of an economic benefit conditional on the signing of a socio-work activation project. The policy debate and empirical analysis have so far concentrated, in addition to the estimation of potential beneficiaries, on monetary transfer and the possible impact of the latter in the reduction of poverty and income inequality in Italy. By contrast, this study focuses on the conditionality provided by the measure, in order to provide some initial micro-based evidence on issues concerning the employment activation of the beneficiaries. In particular, by using data obtained from the sample survey Inapp PLUS 2018, this article examines the immediate availability for work and, above all, the willingness to transfer to work among the unemployed with low family income, i.e. those to whom the Rdc is primarily addressed. The results of the analysis show that such availability among individuals potentially affected by the Rdc cannot be taken for granted.