In October 2023, ISSA Member, Centre for Child Health and Development (Centro per la Salute del Bambino) released a report titled “The participation of fathers in ‘the first thousand days’ The Italian situation in Europe”. It [AL1] explores fatherhood in Italy and the structural and cultural factors affecting the engagement of fathers, especially in the first thousand days. The report emphasizes how work-life balance policies could enhance gender equality and enrich fatherhood experiences, as well as potentially increase fertility rates by promoting female employment.

The brief provides crucial evidence for the Engaging Men in Nurturing Care (EMINC) project and is part of the 4e-parent project, co-funded by the CERV-2022-DAPHNE Program of the European Commission.

A key insight in the brief highlights that Italy has the lowest rates of female employment and fertility in Europe. This situation is attributed to socio-economic and cultural factors such as scarce childcare facilities, insufficient parental leave policies, and a prevailing culture that primarily views women as caregivers. Whilst the role and involvement of fathers in Italy is changing, a significant gender gap still exists, with women performing most of the domestic and care work. In this article we delve further into the implications of this social dynamic at play.

The impact of parenthood on female employment

Italy has a low level of female employment which is “both a cause and effect of the limited involvement of fathers. This situation is exacerbated by the “insufficient and geographically unequal provision of nursery places”, especially in the south, and high cost of early childhood services where they do exist. According to  Italian Office of Statistics (Istat) data gathered in the 2020-2021 educational year, the coverage of early childhood services in Italy is 27.2 places per 100 children — putting Italy well below even the (recently upgraded) Barcelona Target of 33% by 2010.[1] The result of these combined factors is that after the birth of their first child, many women are forced to leave their jobs to care for their children, which significantly impedes the rate of female employment.

Furthermore, Openpolis further points out that territories with fewer childcare services have less female employment, and vice versa. The outcome is a vicious cycle in parts of the country with limited childcare services, whereby women are disincentivized from working by the need to care for children and shoulder an unequal division of domestic work. On top of this, household tasks are most often taken up by women due to the persistent cultural norms of the “man/breadwinner-woman/caregiver model”. Similarly, in areas where few women work, there is a perception that the need for early childhood services is lower.[2] 

Measures that can help

The report emphasizes structural solutions including remote work and extended paternity leave to foster gender equality both in the workplace and in childcare at home. A useful measure to reduce the impacts of parenting on women's employment and which could facilitate the sharing of care by both parents is remote working (smart working) for parents with children under 14 years of age — a policy which arose from the COVID-19 pandemic and has endured after the lockdowns. There are calls from many quarters for this to become a permanent measure, but for the time being, the Italian Senate's Budget Committee continually extend the right to work remotely for several months each time- once to December 2023, another to March 2024[3], and the latest extension being to July 2024.[4] However, such work-life balance measures such as part-time work and flexible work hours, are mainly targeted at and used by women. Yet, it is primarily women who resign due to problems with work-life balance.  

Additionally, the brief examines legislation on maternity, paternity, and parental leave in Italy, comparing it with European standards. Paternity and parental leave policies recognize the duty and right of the father to care and the obligation of the State to encourage this.[5] However, data on its uptake shows low participation by fathers in parental leave. This may be due to fathers engaging more in paid work to fit the stereotype of the father who provides for his family.[6]

Correlation between female employment, paternity leave, and fertility rates

A positive correlation between generous paternity leave and female employment, and possibly also increased fertility rates, is also highlighted in the report. It references evidence that the decision on whether to have a second child, especially for the woman, is strongly correlated with the expectation of the help she will be able to have from early childhood services, the father, and other family members. This suggests that improving parental support could have positive effects on birth rates in Italy where they are declining.

You may read the full report in Italian, here.