In this paper the author focuses on the measures to combat poverty, distinguishing between in-work poverty and poverty caused by lack of work and other conditions of social fragility. As far as the first one is concerned, the author reconstructs the ongoing debate on the possible intervention of a statute establishing the minimum wage, and the reasons why the social partners oppose it. As for the second, the author traces the path of contrast measures from the repealed «income of inclusion » to the current discipline of the so-called «citizenship income», analyzing its contents and bringing to light several critical points. The final part of the paper is devoted to the measure known as basic income: a utopia full of charm but with little chance of being realized.