Between maritime labor and social security in the Kingdom of Italy: the Cassa degli invalidi della Marina mercantile of Genova in the age of transition (1861-1894)

This contribution aims to retrace the changes in the Italian merchant fleet during the delicate nineteenth-century transition between sailing and steam propulsion through the study of a particular welfare institution reserved for seafarers – the Cassa degli invalidi della Marina mercantile (Fund for injured seamen of the merchant marine) of Genova – trying to identify problems and countermeasures adopted by the institutions both at the local and national level. In particular, an error of estimation with respect to the growth of the Italian shipping led in 1874 to a considerable increase in disbursements from the fund that caused a massive imbalance. The opinions provided by the parliamentary enquiries ordered by the Italian government in 1881 and 1887, in part conflicting with each other, only followed in a significant complex of reforms in 1894; among the measures adopted there were also aimed at optimizing and economically supporting the Cassa degli invalidi della Marina mercantile of Genova and at preparing the ground for the union of the various local funds into a single entity which then took place in 1913, the only way to bring its balance sheet back to sustainability.