Introduction

The Italian welfare system emerged under two different political regimes: the competitive, Liberal regime from the country unification (1861) to 1922, and the Fascist regime (1922-1943). The profound variation of the political background, however, did not have a decisive impact on the institutional traits of social protection schemes that from its inception displayed a Bismarckian imprint. They were in fact built along occupational lines – aiming to protect dependent workers primarily – and financed through social contributions paid by employers and employees (though the state contributed with a share of the total cost, i.e. tripartite financing); benefits were broadly contributions related and differentiated among occupational groups and categories (private/public employees, blue/white collars).

After World War II the bulk of the system was managed by a public Institution – the national institute for social insurance Inps (Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale) – which was structured on several funds (casse or fondi) for different risks (old-age , survivors, disability , unemployment , family and sickness) and professional categories – i.e. initially dependent workers in the private sector as the self-employed were covered in the 1950s-1960s (see below). Inps was originally administered by civil servants , while the social partners would be formally involved in the management at the end of the 1960s. This change was important because it granted the social partners (especially the unions ) formal legitimacy to participate in the social protection policy-making, but it should not be overestimated. In fact, on the one hand the unions had until then relied on a more direct channel for interest representation, as the parliamentary groups of the major parties – the Christian Democrats (DC), the Commu nist Party (PCI) and the Socialist Party (PSI) – had a ‘union component’ which included some unions ‘ leaders. On the other hand, major decisions in the field of welfare policies were in the hands of political and institutional actors, such as the government and the Parliament .

Section 2 briefly sketches the development of the Italian welfare system during the so-called golden age (1945-1975). Section 3 constitutes the core of our analysis, dealing with four different sequences of welfare reform: a) the ambivalent interventions of the 1980s; b) the first retrenchment reforms in the period of fiscal emergency (1992-93); c) the path-breaking reforms of the mid-to late 1990s; d) the growing tension between these modernizing interventions and more conservative measures in the recent years (2000-2008).