Italy Fails to Renew Fund to Tackle Child Poverty and Hidden Costs of Education
Eurochild member Con I Bambini shares concerns in an interview with Italian magazine Vita about the government’s failure to renew the fund, highlighting the hidden costs of education for families in need—from school materials and transport to extracurricular activities and psychological support.
The Italian Government has unexpectedly decided to not renew the tax credit in the 2025 Budget Law that, for the past eight years, has enabled banking foundations to contribute to the fund to tackle poverty. The fund which was created in 2016 to support "experimental interventions designed to remove economic, social, and cultural barriers that prevent children from fully benefiting from educational processes", is now supposedly being replaced by structured policies which, in reality, are still absent.
"We are a wealthy country, yet nearly 1.4 million children living in absolute poverty and another 2.2 million in relative poverty. In recent years, the fund has raised €800 million, of which €466 million has already been allocated to completed or approved projects. Now, there is no longer any financial coverage to sustain this mechanism." says Marco Rossi-Doria, President of Con i Bambini.
Over the past eight years, this fund has supported over 800 projects, benefiting half a million children across the country. Its initiatives focused on combating school dropout, reducing disparities in educational opportunities, and ensuring access to sports, culture, and psychological support.
In the interview, Marco Rossi-Doria emphasises the need for a long-term, structural partnership between the Government, foundations, businesses, and civil society organisations. While he is not concerned about the immediate future, as existing projects are fully funded, he stresses the importance of developing a comprehensive policy and legal framework to run large-scale projects and ensure that resources are used effectively.
