Poverty Regimes and the Great Recession

Abstract

After having discussed some methodological problems one has to face when assessing and comparing poverty across different countries, this chapter offers an overview of how the 2008 financial crisis affected the different European countries and poverty regimes, thus setting the Italian case in a broad European comparative perspective. Based on empirical data and the most recent literature, it argues that differences in the incidence and patterns of distribution of the negative impact of the crisis do not depend only on the strength of the economy, but also on the existing system of social protection and on the policy choices made by governments in response to the crisis. Focusing on the four largest Mediterranean countries, which have been among the worst hit by the crisis, it shows that although Italy has comparatively been less affected at the economy level, it has been much slower in recovering.