FAMILY ALLOWANCES. – In Italy this name has been given to the allowances paid to employees of private enterprises, in addition to the remuneration deriving from the contractual regulation of employment relations, in consideration of the burdens arising for workers from the composition of their families. Since their direct payment by individual firms is not possible—for in that case workers with fewer family dependants would be preferred as less costly—the allowances are paid through a mutual equalization mechanism for the burdens, whereby firms contribute, by means of contributions calculated with reference to their entire workforce, to the formation of the funds from which the allowances due to individual employees are drawn. The need for a system of compensation does not arise in the case of firms or bodies that do not operate under conditions of economic competition: consequently, the State administration and public bodies in general provide for the direct payment to their employees of special family allowances, having the same nature and purpose as the a. f.
Originally, the a. f. were established as a special contribution, also of an assistance-related nature, to remedy the insufficiency of wages for workers with family dependants during periods of an exceptional increase in the cost of living, as in France in 1922, or, as in Italy in 1934, on the occasion of the reduction in wages resulting from the corresponding reduction in weekly working hours. Soon, however, from this contingent origin, the institution of the a. f. was extended and perfected in an unconditional form, leading substantially to a system that realizes, albeit only partly and imperfectly, the principle of the family wage.
Since they do not represent compensation for work performed, the a. f. do not constitute an element of remuneration for the various legal purposes. The question whether they may be regarded as part of social welfare remains debated: more recently, the affirmative view has prevailed, in consideration of the evolving concept of welfare which, from the original framework grafted onto social insurance, tends to develop into a system of social protection and security, founded on the principle of income redistribution implemented on the basis of an idea of solidarity.
Because they are paid with reference to a condition of need, objectively assessed in relation to family dependants, the amount of the a. f. is independent of the amount of the individual remuneration and is uniform throughout the category of workers entitled to them. At present in Italy, this amount varies according to the workers’ membership in the major groups of industry, commerce, credit, insurance, and agriculture.
The beneficiaries of the a. are the family members living as dependants of the worker. In contrast to the view held by some, and implemented, among other places, in French and English legislation, according to which the a. f. should be paid, save for particular exceptions, only when the family has a numerical composition exceeding a given average (generally one child), and in contrast to the view, partly connected with the preceding one, that the number of children should be taken into account in order to give larger families preferential treatment—a principle implemented in Italian legislation until 1934—the principle has now become established in Italy that the a. f. are due in respect of all dependent children, without any progression according to their number; in addition to children, they are also due for the wife and for dependent parents when they have exceeded certain age limits or are incapacitated.
The a. are generally paid by the same firm, which obtains reimbursement from the Institute administering the allowances for the amount disbursed; in agriculture, payment is made directly by the Institute to the workers entitled to them, identified by means of special lists.
Connected with the purposes underlying the a. f. is insurance for marriage and childbirth, introduced in Italy in 1939, whose purpose is to pay special allowances on the occasion of the marriage and the birth of children of workers.