aged 0 to 6 in childcare facilities and pre - schools by more than 260, 000 units. see also welcome address by luigi federico signorini to the bank of italy - cepr conference on labour market participation : forces at work and policy challenge, 2018. based on data from istat, italian labour force survey, 2019 and 2021. without pay and, often, with little social - security protection ; 14 they may entail human capital losses that further reduce career prospects. temporary workers who would like to have a permanent job may not be able to find one because employers try to avoid higher hiring / firing / regulatory costs. the right balance of job protection in various segments of the labour market is a much - debated policy issue. perhaps less often discussed is the role of market competition ( or lack thereof ) in determining the equilibrium in the labour market. interestingly, one paper in this workshop argues that the degree of market power that employers enjoy influences their ability to shift demand uncertainty onto workers by forcing them to accept less protected types of employment. 15 another lively debate concerns statutory minimum wages, an institution that exists in many countries to protect low - wage workers. italy, as many in the audience will know, has no statutory minimum wage ; the constitutional right to “ proportioned and sufficient ” pay has so far been enforced by the courts indirectly, through reference to collective bargaining clauses. from an economic point of view, the level of the statutory minimum wage is critical : there is, once again, a trade - off between protecting the most vulnerable and avoiding negative employment effects. and, once again, the degree of market competition does appear to matter. in fact, a paper to be presented today argues that the terms of the trade - off depend on the degree of product and labour market power that the employer enjoys. 16 in turn, professor lindner ’ s influential contributions explore the issue of the extent to which wage increases can be passed on by firms to consumers via higher prices. 17 one final theme is the design of social safety nets. the concern here is to ensure protection from poverty without discouraging participation in the labour market. market incentives are obviously central to this debate. as an example, a paper that will be presented tomorrow shows that the design of child benefits affects women ’ s employment. 18 professor hoynes ’ research has also highlighted the labour supply implications of inwork credits, as well as their impact on poverty, health and well - being. 19 see f. d ’ amuri

project working paper wp - 15. businesses. working at the grassroots level, through consumer - oriented programmes, we managed over 110, 000 overindebtedness cases in 2022, finding solutions to help households get out of challenging financial situations. we further ensure that all consumers can exercise their right to open a bank account and have access to associated means of payment. in 2022, we set up a one - stop consumer helpline, which can be reached by dialling 3414, to make it easier to access our services. for companies, we offer support to help very small, small and medium - sized enterprises get set up and run their business. in 2022, around 9, 000 entrepreneurs benefited from this service. we support companies through credit mediation, which helped to save around 8, 000 jobs in 2022. we also provide a rating system that scores businesses according to their financial health, on top of digital diagnostic tools for business leaders, designed to support the digital transformation of our economy. finally, the war in ukraine was a stark reminder of the urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and therefore make a successful energy transition. to support the economy in this transformation, we are developing a climate indicator to measure the progress made by companies in the climate transition. our work to support the regions extends to high schools and post - secondary institutions, as we execute france ’ s national economic and financial literacy strategy. we aim to offer young people a useful decision - making framework, ensuring that they have access to reliable, unbiased economic and financial information. we also provide services for local decision makers, notably by providing research analysing cyclical and structural conditions in the regional economies. * * * * let me now turn to the current economic situation and explain how monetary policy helps to improve it. 10 the fact is, it is not enough to merely set up a framework within which households and economic agents can operate and regions can grow. serving the economy and society also means guaranteeing monetary stability. today, inflation is having a severe and unequal impact on many french people, generating costs that they are unable to pay, which is why the eurosystem ’ s primary goal is to bring inflation down towards 2 %. for a more in - depth presentation of the causes and symptoms of inflation and how it can and will be tamed, see the letter from the governor of the banque de france to the president of the republic published on 24 / 04 / 23. since