The persistence of income poverty and life-style deprivation: Evidence from Italy

This article estimates poverty persistence over an individual's lifetime, using two definitions: income poverty and a multidimensional index of life-style deprivation. We stressed the ability of the two definitions to provide a generally consistent characterization of poverty persistence risks faced by various population subgroups, but also the additional insights to be gained by analyzing the two definitions in parallel in a longitudinal context. The results of multiple-spell hazard rate models highlight the weaknesses of the Italian labour market, the insufficiencies of the existing social security system and the deep territorial dualism in generating persistent poverty for certain groups of the population.