Introduzione al focus. Regimi di povertà territoriali. Specificità locali, modelli e analisi

This focus section of «Politiche Sociali / Social Policies» explores poverty in Italy from a territorial perspective, highlighting the need to move beyond aggregated, national-level analyses in order to understand the local specificities of the phenomenon. Despite the existence of a broad and well-established national statistical framework, there remains a lack of in-depth knowledge at the sub-regional level – knowledge that is essential for developing effective and targeted policies. Poverty in Italy is linked to several structural factors that generate a distinct poverty regime, with higher exposure among families with children, migrants, and residents of Southern regions. The contributions in this focus section examine various dimensions of poverty – income, education, and housing – and present territorial case studies such as Calabria, Taranto, Milan, Modena, and Bologna, showing how poverty manifests differently depending on the local context. New divides emerge, such as the centre-periphery, along with critical issues like educational poverty, unequal access to services, and the growing burden of housing costs in urban areas. The aim is to foster more nuanced territorial research and promote local governance capable of addressing poverty in an integrated and context-sensitive manner. The interaction between national structural features and local conditions gives rise to localized poverty regimes with distinct profiles and risks, whose study is crucial for effectively tackling the issue.