Welfare Policies

In light of demographic, digital, and environmental transitions and the rise of social inequalities, this course aims to provide students with the foundational knowledge and conceptual tools needed to understand the functioning and evolution of Italian welfare policies from a comparative perspective. Special attention will be paid to the main reforms introduced over the past two decades and to future developments, both at the national and local levels. To this end, the course will begin with an introduction to the key concepts for studying social policies, including a historical and comparative overview of welfare systems. It will then move on to a detailed analysis of selected policy sectors, with the goal of enhancing students' understanding of recent transformations. In particular, the study of reforms in the fields of social and health care, social assistance, and work-life balance policies will highlight the challenges faced by policymakers, the political dynamics at play, and the role of both public and non-public actors in decision-making processes. Finally, the course aims to equip students with basic tools for public policy evaluation, especially in the local context. For this purpose, particular emphasis will be placed on the processes of data collection, production, and validation.

At the end of the course, students will be able to describe the structure and evolution of Italian welfare policies from a comparative perspective. They will be able to identify, for the policy areas covered (healthcare and long-term care, social assistance, work-life balance at both national and local levels), the main directions of reform undertaken in Italy over the past two decades in response to recent crises and ongoing transitions. In addition, students will be able to critically interpret current policy choices related to the functioning of the Italian welfare system, even when these specific issues were not directly addressed during the course. Finally, students will have acquired basic knowledge and tools for the evaluation of social policies.