The gap between male and female employment in the 25–45 year age group has risen, according to findings of the latest report by the Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies on childhood and adolescence in Italy, published at the end of 2006. One of the main reasons why women are leaving the workplace is childbirth. Moreover, the level of female employment declines with the birth of the first child and falls considerably after the birth of the second child.
Each year, the Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies (Istituto di Studi Politici, Economici e Sociali, Eurispes), in cooperation with Telefono Azzurro, an association offering support to children and young people in distress, publish a report on childhood and adolescence in Italy.
The report is based on sectoral and sample research and aims to produce an analysis of young people aged from seven to 11 years and from 12 to 19 years. With an emphasis on maternity rights, the latest Eurispes report ‘Italy 2007’ warrants particular attention, as 2007 has been designated the European year of equal opportunities for all.
At present, the rate of female employment in Italy stands at just over 45%. This reflects an occupational gender gap of 25 percentage points, reaching up to 30 percentage points in southern Italy and on the islands.
The Eurispes report analyses these differentials in terms of age, and reveals that the gap rises considerably among people aged 35–54 years.
Female employment reaches 67.5% among 25–34 year olds, but decreases to 66.5% among those aged 35–44 years and then falls to 55.9% among the 45–54 year age group. This profile is quite distinct from that of male employment which increases by over 10 percentage points among those aged 25–44 years.
The researchers’ conclusion is that, in the mid-life phase, when major lifestyle decisions are being made (for example, living with a partner, marrying or having children) and when there is a more pressing need to find a balance between personal and professional life, women have particular difficulties in gaining access to and retaining their place in employment.
The previous Eurispes report, ‘Italy 2006’, had already described the profile of working mothers, defining them as ‘acrobats’ leaping between their working, family and caring duties.
The difficult situation faced by working mothers derives partly from objective factors and is partly due to traditional roles. For example, the provision of services for young children in Italy is still insufficient, with 32.7% of childcare requests remaining unfulfilled. In addition, there is a deep-rooted belief among Italians that family care is exclusively a woman’s role. Thus, the decision to continue working while raising a child is often wrought with difficulties for parents.
As a result, Italian women often make the lifestyle decision to relinquish childbearing in order to retain their job. In light of this, the birth rate in Italy is one of the lowest in the world, averaging at just over one child per woman.
The presence of children is not the sole factor affecting female employment. In fact, the report also reveals marital status as a determining factor.
It appears that marrying or moving in with a partner often results in women leaving their job, which is not the case for men. The report reveals that the employment rate among married or cohabiting men is 17 percentage points higher than that of single men (81.4% compared with 64.2% of men). On the other hand, women who are married or cohabiting have a lower employment rate than that of single people (49.4% compared with 51.9% of women).
A steep rise is therefore evident in the occupational gender gap between single people (12.3%) and those who are married or cohabiting (32%).
Having children has a profound effect on women’s employment decisions. However, marital status also appears to have some influence in this respect. The employment rate among married or cohabiting women falls from 78% to 65.7% with the arrival of the first child, whereas it rises from 78.1% to 81% among single people. It is only with the birth of the second child that a significant drop in the employment rate of those who are single (to 71.8%) also becomes evident, although it remains higher than for married or cohabiting women, for whom it drops further to 52.6%. The arrival of a third child accentuates the difference, with employment rates falling to 59.8% for single women and to 37.5% among married or cohabiting women.
The women who are most penalised in relation to employment opportunities are those from the south of Italy, where there is the significant lack of childcare services and also a serious shortage of jobs. As a result, women in this part of the country often do not work. Consequently, it is in the central and northern parts of the country, where women have a greater presence in the workplace, that the lack of continuity in employment and career breaks following childbirth represent the most apparent issues facing women: in the north of Italy, 15.6% of women leave work after the birth of their first child along with 12.9% of women living in central Italy, compared with 9.3% of women in the south.
The data provided by Eurispes have generated public debate, raising considerable concerns among those active in social fields; the latter have requested that the Italian authorities make greater efforts to assist women’s access to the labour market and to allow mothers to keep their jobs for longer.
The President of Eurispes, Gian Maria Fara, lays the responsibility for the situation firmly in the hands of management. He contends that ‘Italy must square up to its sickness, to its delays, to its structural weaknesses but, most of all, to its managerial class’.
Vilma Rinolfi, Cesos