Italian co-operatives help to tackle youth unemployment

​Italian co-operatives are working with the national government to address youth unemployment. The collaboration started over a year ago, when delegates from Generazioni, the youth network of all cooperatives associated to Legacoop, met with representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development.

Generazioni continued dialogue with the Ministry, seeking to assess the current boundaries faced by young people when trying to start up their own co-operative enterprise.

Throughout the discussions, Generazioni members made a series of recommendations, some of which have been included in a report produced by the Ministry for Economic Development.

They highlighted the need to improve access to finance for young people looking to set up co-operatives or for those made redundant. In Italy the Marcora Law allows redundant workers to use their accumulated unemployment benefit to capitalise a buyout co-operative. However, workers sometimes have to use all their savings to set up the new enterprise also. Generazioni argued that the process needed to be simplified. The could be achieved by passing a specific law that would enable transforming unemployment extraordinary allowances into share capital. These allowances are given when a long-term contract is stopped due to a firm closure or a reduction of turnover.

Another issue discussed at meetings was the expansion of financial support for small co-operatives with up to ten members. Generazioni members also proposed a tax reduction to enable co-operatives to re-invest profits into the business, particularly in research, training and development.

As part of its campaign to promote the co-operative model among young people, Generationzi teamed up with secondary schools and universities, encouraging students to get involved in a business strategy game while introducing them to co-operative values and principles. The project, called Sapienza Business Game, was promoted jointly by Legacoop Lazio, Generazioni Lazio and some Student Associations like Sapienza in Movimento and AIESEC.

Legacoop, the Italian federation of co-operatives, has also launched a new portal for the Emilia-Romagna region that enables young people to gain access to all the information they need prior to starting up their own co-operative enterprise. The platform – Farecooperativa - helps to showcase successful stories of co-operation while providing guidelines on how to start up a co-operative. It connects students with teachers, academics and co-operators.

Legacoop is commited to involving young people in its long term strategy. Generazioni has gained an important role within the Legacoop offices and it participates in every governance and decision making process.

Italian co-operatives have shown remarkable resilience at times of crisis, increasing employment in recent years by 8 per cent. Apart from providing jobs for young people, co-operatives can also enable them to set up their own enterprise. There are currently over 13,000 youth co-operatives in Italy. Co-operatives also employ over 7.4 per cent of the working population in Italy.

Photo: Generazioni members at their General Assembly in 2012.