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Italy’s embattled Five Star Movement has warned Prime Minister Mario Draghi to keep a poverty relief program in place despite claims from business leaders that the “citizens’ income” program has been a drag on the country’s labor force.
Italy’s “Annual Report 2022” said there are about 5.6 million Italian residents living in absolute poverty in 2021, which amounts to about 9.5 percent of the population, according to Xinhua news agency.
The report identified someone in “absolute poverty” as an individual who is unable to afford daily needs. The study also found that another 5 million residents in Italy were employed but considered to be “vulnerable.”
The ”citizens’ income” scheme was put together in 2019 by the populist Five Star Movement and has been a “rallying call” for the movement since its foundation in 2009, Reuters reported. The report said it cost Rome about 7 billion euros in 2019 and is a steady income of about 2.7 million.
The Financial Times reported that the program has faced backlash because the country is trying to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns and needs a workforce. Italians who collect the payments are less likely to feel compelled to get a job, according to critics.
“We are willing to share government responsibility as we have done so far in a loyal and constructive way, but we want major changes,” Giuseppe Conte, the Five Star leader, told the paper. “We will no longer permit the citizens’ income to be questioned on a daily basis.”
Last month, we reported that the Five Star Movement put a new strain on Draghi’s coalition government after announcing it will split due to differing views about the best approach to the Ukraine invasion. (See “ITALY’S FIVE STAR MOVEMENT SPLITS DUE TO INFIGHTING OVER APPROACH TO UKRAINE.”)
The Trends Journal has pointed out that despite both the Five Star Movement and the Northern League, movements that had campaigned on breaking away from the European Union, doing away with the euro, and restoring the lira… both parties voted for Draghi to become prime minister. Thus, the populist movements showed their first cracks in early 2021.
Both parties will have to contend with the emerging Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia) political movement that has been called “rightwing” in reports. Brothers of Italy was the only party that stayed out of Draghi’s government and has emerged as Rome’s top opposition force. There have been whispers that Giorgia Meloni, the movement’s leader, could be Italy’s next prime minister.
“Brothers of Italy is a party in line with the neo-fascist tradition,” Andrea Mammone, one of Italy’s pre-eminent contemporary historians, told Euronews. “Many of its members show a positive approach toward Mussolini’s regime.”
Meloni has been a critic of COVID-19 lockdowns in the country and accused some countries in the EU of exploiting the pandemic to their benefit.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has long pointed out that the COVID-19 virus outbreak has changed employment for good. Workers no longer want to toil in jobs that go nowhere with little to no benefits.
Italy’s unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent in May, which is the lowest reading in two years, but Reuters pointed out that the number reflects Italians who are no longer in the workforce.
The report found that more than half of the jobs created in Italy in the last 12 months have been temporary, which usually means inconsistent hours, no chance for career development, and no future. There were 3.17 million temporary jobs, which is the highest number since 1977, the report said.
TREND FORECAST: As Gerald Celente has long said, “When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose, they lose it.” Therefore, as socioeconomic conditions continue to deteriorate, “NEW WORLD DISORDER,” one of our 2020 Top Trends, will escalate as billions take to the streets, demonstrating against the lack of basic living standards, crime, violence, and government corruption.