Conference Program

Absolute poverty affects over 9.7% of the Italian population, with higher incidence in the southern regions and among households with at least a foreign member and the presence of minors (ISTAT, 2023). Poverty together with low financial inclusion influences social mobility. Research has consistently shown that Italy ranks among the lowest in the European Union for intergenerational mobility, meaning that children from low-income families have fewer opportunities to improve their socioeconomic status compared to their peers in other European countries (Balestra & Ciani, 2022). Low levels of financial inclusion such as limited access to financial products and services paired with low financial literacy further exacerbate financial fragility (Artisei et al., 2025) and families’ capacity to make informed economic decisions (Lusardi, 2019) about household budgeting, savings, and long-term planning, even more so when it comes to savings to cover their child’s future education. Social mobility and education are interlinked: a family’s financial prosperity plays an important role in shaping a child’s education opportunities. Wealth grants families a range of benefits, including the ability to draw upon stable resources for school provisions and extracurricular activities, as well as greater peace of mind when committing to long-term endeavours. Increasing access to educational opportunities for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds is thus pivotal to tackle issues of educational inequality and social mobility. Within this context, programmes of incentivised saving inspired by US ‘children’s savings accounts’ (Chen & Elliot, 2020) have emerged in Italy as valid instruments to act on disadvantaged families’ capacity to save and offer their children adequate support for their education and extra-curricular activities. PUOI is a programme of incentivised saving that targets middle-to-low-income families in the province of Cuneo with the aim of supporting academic and personal development of students aged 12-16 through a dedicated savings account that includes a savings match rate mechanism and educational guidance support for the student and their family. Inspired by similar national programmes such as “Will” and “Will-To”, PUOI provides an ideal context to investigate families’ attitudes towards these types of programmes in Italy. Despite PUOI offering to multiply participants’ savings, recruitment rates have been lower than expected. This may be because families affected by poverty are far from homogeneous, differences in demographic and personal circumstances may generate distinct barriers. For some families, the requirement to contribute a small amount on a regular basis may prove financially burdensome, particularly when income is unstable, the perceived complexity of navigating a new programme amid the pressures of everyday financial hardship, and the sustained commitment demanded of both students and their families to partake in project educational activities. Beyond these practical barriers, fear of fraud or financial loss also plays a relevant role. When implementing these types of programmes, targeting matters. In this study, we explore attitudes of families towards incentivised savings programmes as well as possible barriers hindering participation. We also explore how despite the shared economic challenges diversity amongst families experiencing financial hardship exists, underscoring the complexity but also the need to provide tailored support.