The Amount of the Welfare Allowance for 2022

Welfare benefits are benefits provided to support individuals or families with incomes below certain thresholds: alongside social security benefits, which are financed by contributions from active workers and taxes paid by public and private companies, there coexist, as we have seen, welfare benefits that are earmarked situations of socioeconomic hardship to ensure support for families.

Social Allowance

This kind of welfare benefit is granted with the fulfillment of certain registry and income requirements.

Unlike the social allowance for 2021, this year the requirements are the following:

– Attainment of age 67.

– Italian citizenship or, for non-EU citizens, possession of an EC Long-Term Residence permit.

– Lack of income or income below the limits established by law.

– Effective and continuous residence for at least 10 years in Italy.

The income of the spouse is also taken into account for the right to social allowance, and for non-EU citizens, as written above, it is necessary to possess a Long-Term Residence Permit: this decision was made with Finance Law 388/2000, which eliminated the possibility of access to the benefit for the Non-EU citizen who simply holds a Residence Permit.

Amounts and Incomes Established by Law

 Those who apply for the social allowance must not possess other incomes or, in any case, they must be lower than the limits established by law: for the year 2022 the income not to be exceeded is 6079.45 € if the applicant is not married, or 12158.90 € if married.

The monthly amount of the social allowance for this year is €467.65 for 13 monthly payments, with an increase of €10 for those over 75 years of age. The amount of the check is crucial for foreign nationals since it establishes the maximum income criteria for family reunification applications.

It is important to remember how the social allowance cannot be transferred abroad: the recipient’s transfer abroad results in the loss of entitlement to the welfare benefit. The reason for this is to be found in the nature of the benefit, which, since it is not social security (i.e., as consideration for contributions made during working life), is to be considered purely social assistance, aimed exclusively at those who are no longer able to produce income and who have not accrued the right to a pension. If the beneficiary’s stay abroad lasts more than 30 days, the benefit is suspended: one year after this suspension, the benefit is automatically withdrawn.