Nel corso della XVIII Legislatura è proseguito il processo di individuazione dei Livelli essenziali delle prestazioni sociali (LEPS) ed il contemporaneo rafforzamento del sistema dei servizi sociali , a cui hanno contribuito l'intervento operato dalla legge di bilancio 2021 con l'assegnazione di risorse dedicate all'assunzione di assistenti sociali e l'incremento delle risorse dedicate alle politiche sociali. Sono stati infatti aumentate, e rese strutturali, le dotazioni dei Fondi già esistenti e sono stati istituiti nuovi Fondi, funzionali alle misure approvate nel corso della Legislatura, quali l'Assegno unico e universale, a regime dal marzo 2022. Attendono invece di essere precisate dai decreti delegati le misure contenute nel c.d. Family act (legge delega n. 32 del 2022).
Nel corso dell'emergenza sanitaria da COVID-19 sono state poi intraprese misure specifiche per contrastare la povertà educativa, un fenomeno le cui dimensioni sono state rese ancor più critiche dalla situazione pandemica.
Nelle azioni di rafforzamento dei servizi sociali e nelle misure per contrastare la povertà educativa è inoltre venuto in rilievo il ruolo del Terzo settore, il cui rapporto con le amministrazioni pubbliche è stato precisato da atti normativi e da sentenze della Corte costituzionale.
The following paragraphs describe, first of all, the measures to support family.
The Budget law 2020 has established an unified fund called " Universal allowance fund and family services" in order to collect, from 2021, the overall resources in support of the birth rate (so-called baby bonus), as well as the kindergarten bonus, as provided by current legislation. After the Budget law 2021, these resources was incresead at more than 4 billion euro.
Further resources are directed to the interventions in support and enhancement of the family services, especially with children, as well as to the reorganization and systematization of policies in this sector. In this regard, the Law no. 46 of 1 April 2021 introducing a "Single benefit for dependent children" delegates the Government to approve legislative decrees for the reorganisation, simplification and strengthening of measures to support dependent children through an overall benefit granted to families. Pending the approval of these legislative decrees, an urgent decree has introduced a temporary benefit during the six-month period July-December 2021 on the basis of certain requirements and for amount defined according income indicators, in favour of families that are not entitled to receive the benefits granted for families of employees.
The same reorganization was initiated by the Budget Law 2020 as regards a structural fund called "Fund for disability and nonself-sufficiency", with a budget of 29 million euros in 2020, 200 million in 2021 and 300 million per year starting from 2022.
At the same time, the latest Budget Law (L. n. 178/2021) has confirmed the resources authorized by the Budget Law 2019, increased and made structural the funds financed annually for social policies and the family.
Measures to support the family include a voucher for the payment of fees related to the frequency of public or private kindergartens, which can also be used to support children under the age of three with serious chronic diseases at home, a premium to mothers for birth or adoption (a one-time allowance of 800 euros) introduced by the 2017 Budget Law and the economic benefit for babies and children adopted in families with an income limit (so-called baby bonus), initially ruled by the Budget Law 2015. The measures were continued in 2018 and extended to 2019, with an increase of 20 percent for birth or adoptions subsequent to the first.
During the COVID-19 healthcare emergency, the resources of the different Social Funds (Fund for non-self-sufficiency, Fund "After Us", Fund for Family Policy) have been increased with the aim of strengthening the system of territorial interventions and services dedicated to family and disability matters. For a detailed overview of the measures adopted, please refer to the topic Social Policies to tackle the coronavirus emergency.
