Le disuguaglianze regionali nella distribuzione del reddito. Parte seconda: Un'analisi delle famiglie italiane a rischio di povertà

The aim of this paper is the analysis of vulnerability within families in nine regions of Italy and represents the second part of a research on regional inequalities in income distribution. Poverty tends to be a multi-dimensional concept and the use of monetary income as a single measure of welfare can be misleading. The concept of equality of living standards is a more correct definition, but it is far more elusive. Starting from the concepts of lacks of purchasing power, of financial and patrimonial protections and of opportunities to achieve economic resources, we can measure different dimensions of vulnerabilities between regional living standards. Then, we try to indentify specific families’ types in which the previous lacks seem more frequent and spread: young couples with little children, families with children and only one parent and single old women are the most vulnerable families in most of the regions and on average for the whole country. Finally, we try some normative conclusions about the direction of welfare measures to reduce such factors of economic vulnerability within families and regional inequalities in Italy.