The Italian Senate approved this Tuesday (30) the bill that provides for the payment of a universal aid of up to 250 euros per month (equivalent to around R$1) per minor child to families in the country.
The measure, which had been included in the budget law proposal since last October, received 227 votes in favor, four abstentions and no votes against.
“Today is a good day for Italy, the first step of a historic reform, with the arrival of an important measure because a new era begins, of the future, of a new beginning”, stated the Minister of Family, Elena Bonetti.
According to Italian policy, the bill introduces universal child benefit, which “puts new generations at the center and will be completed with the Family Law”.
“I confirm on behalf of the government the commitment to follow through on the delegation through implementation by the deadline of July 1st as scheduled,” Bonetti added.
The Italian government plans to pay the benefit of 20 euros from the seventh month of pregnancy until the 21st birthday. The amount will be made available from July 1st.
For children with physical and mental disabilities, the aid will be lifelong and will have an increase of 30% to 50%. For adults aged 18 to 21, the subsidy can be received directly by their children. However, the benefit is lower for boys in this age group who study, take training courses or are unemployed registered at the Employment Centers.
Bonuses for everyone
The bonus is considered universal because, theoretically, it will benefit everyone, workers, the unemployed, pensioners, citizens with citizenship income, as well as those enrolled in other social measures.
The main objective of the law is to guarantee support for families, which should be the first step to promoting the birth rate and employment of women.
Italy has had five consecutive years of decline in its population and had around 2019 births in 435, the lowest number ever recorded by the National Statistics Institute (Istat).
In this way, the different governments that led the country recently tried to implement a series of programs to encourage birth rates, but none managed to reverse the trend. (Handle)
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