Abstract

In-work poverty received increasing attention over the last years, due to its overall increase. This article documents the diffusion, persistency and the drivers of in-work poverty in Italy since the early 2000s. In-work poverty affects around 10 to 12% of the relevant working population, but is strongly stratified by individual and family level characteristics, like education, employment position and contract, as well as by the household composition, in terms of employed people. The presence of a (whatever type of) second work-income keeps families out of in-work poverty. Additionally, the article shows how in-work poverty is a very sticky phenomenon, leading to the accumulation of inequalities and also to their persistency over time. Such stickiness is explained by individual and household's structural factors rather than to genuine state dependency. The article concludes with a discussion of these findings in terms of policy implications.