Women with an income of less than 15,000 euros: who will be eligible for the separated parents’ bonus?

Lombardy (15 per cent) and Campania (12.4 per cent), followed by Piedmont and Veneto (tied at 9.6 per cent), are the regions from which the most applications were submitted for the separated parents’ allowance, totalling 15,540 applications. It is primarily women (accounting for over 60 per cent) aged over 45 who have applied for the grant. This profile can be pieced together based on data released by the Ministry of Infrastructure regarding the scheme, which has just concluded its first phase: the deadline for submitting applications via the platform made available by the Government expired at 12:00 on 29 October. “This is a scheme that we will continue to fund in the years to come; thanks to the previous Budget Act, there is already €20 million earmarked for 2027 and €20 million for 2028,” stressed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ministry of the Interior Matteo Salvini, who, following the results of this first phase, met with journalists for a briefing dedicated to the scheme.

It should be noted that the bonus is reserved for those separated parents who do not have custody of the family home and who have declared an income of no more than 35,000 euros (the ISEE is not taken into account). The grant, with a total budget of 20 million euros, amounts to 50 per cent of the rent paid, subject to a cap of 6,000 euros per year: that is, 500 euros per month. In addition to being legally separated or divorced, the parent must hold a tenancy agreement and must not own any property in the same municipality as the family home or in neighbouring municipalities, within a radius of 50 kilometres. They must also ‘be in compliance with their obligations regarding the care and maintenance of their children’.

Eligibility was determined by the income declared to the tax authorities. “Unlike almost all other benefits, which are based on the ISEE, in this case it was not the ISEE that counted, but the IRPEF tax return showing an income of up to 35,000 euros,” explained Salvini. 39.4 per cent of applicants fall into the bracket up to 15,000 euros; 32.1 per cent between 15,001 and 25,000 euros. The remaining 28.5 per cent reported incomes between 25,001 and 35,000 euros. Overall, 71.5 per cent do not exceed 25,000 euros.

The process will not be immediate: the payments will be made in December based on the applications deemed eligible: ‘In the case of a mum or dad in Rome paying an annual rent of 6,000 euros, we will transfer 3,000 euros into this mum and dad’s bank account by Christmas,’ explained the minister. The average annual rent indicated in the report is €5,501, approximately €458 per month. The highest cost is in the Centre, at €6,048 per year, equivalent to €504 per month.

Now that the deadline for applications has passed, it is possible to take stock of who has been most affected by the consequences of separations and divorces. It is mainly women (61 per cent), with 47.5 per cent aged 54 or over and a further 37.4 per cent aged between 45 and 54. The average rent is 5,500 euros a year, around 450 euros a month. This means that, in most cases, applicants will be able to receive the full subsidy. The income figures are striking. The largest group of applicants consists of parents earning less than 15,000 euros a year: they account for 39.4 per cent. Very often, the dependent children of these parents are teenagers: in 41 per cent of cases they are at least 15 years old, and in 70 per cent of cases they are at least 11. In 53 per cent of cases, they are only children.