Italian households receiving Citizens' Basic Income 2023, by macro-region

In 2023, 1.4 million households benefited from the Citizens' Basic Income. In south Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, 876,000 families were recipients of this allowance, the highest number nationwide. The Basic Income was launched in Italy in March 2019 to reduce poverty and unemployment. The allowance was distributed to one person per household whose annual income and assets did not exceed 9,360 euros. The recipients were then obliged to actively search for employment with the support of qualified job centers. Hence, it was a form of guaranteed minimum income, and not a universal basic income, as strict obligations had to be met for the allowance to be regularly paid. In December 2023, the measure was abolished and substituted with other subsidies with different requirements.