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Low Fertility and Labour Force Participation of Italian Women: Evidence and Interpretations

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  • Daniela Del Boca

Abstract

In Italy, as well as in other Southern European countries, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our proposed explanation for this apparent anomaly involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and imperfections in the labor market and characteristics of the publicly-funded child care system. These rigidities tend to simultaneously increase the costs of having children and to discourage the labor market participation of married women.We analyze a model of labor supply and fertility, using panel data from the Bank of Italy which have been merged with regional data describing the available opportunities in each sample household’s environment. The empirical results show that the availability of child care and part time work increase both the probability of working and having a child. Policies which would provide more flexible working hours choices and greater child care availability ... En Italie comme dans les autres pays de l’Europe du Sud, on observe un faible taux de participation à l’emploi des femmes mariées lié à un faible taux de naissances. L’explication mise en avant pour cette apparente anomalie suppose l’implication de la structure institutionnelle italienne, qui présente quelques rigidités et imperfections sur les questions du marché de l’emploi et les caractéristiques du système de garde d’enfants prises en charge par l’état. Ces rigidités tendent à accroître simultanément les coûts liés à un enfant et la démobilisation sur le marché du travail des femmes mariées.Nous analyserons un modèle d’offre de main d’oeuvre et de fertilité en utilisant des données de panel de la Banque d’Italie qui ont été associées à des données régionales décrivant les opportunités disponibles dans chaque échantillon de l’environnement des ménages. Les résultats empiriques montrent que la disponibilité pour un enfant et le travail à temps partiel augmentent tous deux les ...

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Del Boca, 2002. "Low Fertility and Labour Force Participation of Italian Women: Evidence and Interpretations," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 61, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaaa:61-en
    DOI: 10.1787/263482758546
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    Cited by:

    1. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2010. "On the relationship between female labour force participation and fertility in G7 countries: evidence from panel cointegration and Granger causality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 361-372, April.
    2. Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Alberto Molina & Raquel Ortega, 2012. "Self-employed mothers and the work-family conflict," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(17), pages 2133-2147, June.
    3. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Alberto Molina & Raquel Ortega, 2017. "Like my parents at home? Gender differences in children’s housework in Germany and Spain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1143-1179, June.
    4. Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, Jose Alberto, 2015. "Health inequality and the use of time for workers in Europe," MPRA Paper 65334, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Peter Mcdonald, 2006. "Low Fertility and the State: The Efficacy of Policy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 485-510, September.
    6. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2016. "Health inequality and the uses of time for workers in Europe: policy implications," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Maria Rita Testa & Valeria Bordone & Beata Osiewalska & Vegard Skirbekk, 2016. "Are daughters’ childbearing intentions related to their mothers’ socio-economic status?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(21), pages 581-616.
    8. Thomas Bassetti & Donata Favaro, 2011. "A Growth Model with Gender Inequality in Employment, Human Capital, and Socio-Political Participation," CHILD Working Papers wp14_11, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    9. Serguey Ivanov, 2009. "Demographic and economic factors of labour supply: Long-term projections and policy options for France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 7(1), pages 83-122.

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