Employment

In Italy, there’s a significant gap in employment rates between men and women for all ages.  

• 45% of Italian women are employed
• 70% of Italian men are employed 
• female employment rate- more than 15 points below the European average 

Employed Italian women tend to work in public administration and public services.  Many women are also teachers, whose hours do not exceed 30 hours a week. 

• Morning schedules- 8am to 2pm                                                                           Image Courtesy of David Lees
• A  maximum of 36 hours a week
• Work weeks that correspond to children’s school hours  

Part time work is scare, making it difficult for many women to balance work and family.  Many women stop working after childbirth because there are not many part time jobs.  The number of part time jobs in Italy is low compared to other European countries.  In 2001,

• 17.9% of EU jobs were part time
• 8.6% of Italian jobs were part time
• 34% of females in the EU worked part time
• 18% of Italian females worked part time . 

Italy also has one of the highest percentages of youth unemployment in Europe.   As a result, a high percentage of families have a young adult living at home. 

References:

Bellotto, Massimo and Alberto Zatti.  1999.  “Working Values and the Italian Family.”  Innovation 12(4):583-596.

European Commision, 2007. EUROSTAT. Retrieved March 2009 (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home).

Ponzellini, Anna M. 2006. "Work-Life Balance and Industrial Relations in Italy." European Societies 8(2):273-294.

Top Corner Image Courtesy of Collington and Flickr