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Female labour supply in Italy: the role of parental leave and child care policies

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  • Francesca Carta

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

Parental leave and child care policies are the two main family-friendly programs adopted in developed countries intended to provide parents with a satisfactory work-family balance. An important goal is to foster the labour supply of mothers, usually the primary caregivers in the family. In Italy female and maternal labour supply are historically low, and the inadequacy of the parental leave and child care systems is often called into question. Based on the features of existing public policies in this area and on the international empirical evidence, we conclude that there is scope to foster quality child care support to further improve female labour supply in Italy. Moreover, increasing the length of paternity leave may help to re-balance the domestic workload among genders and overcome stereotypes.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Carta, 2019. "Female labour supply in Italy: the role of parental leave and child care policies," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 539, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_539_19
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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2019-0539/QEF_539_19.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family Law; Child care; Gender; Female Labour Supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law

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