Without adequate services, motherhood remains a penalty

In Italy, there are no guaranteed early childhood care services. The few structures present are often distributed patchily along the peninsula, they are too expensive and inevitably insufficient to cover all requests. Thus, it is the mothers who take care of their children, taking a step back from work. There motherhood penalty, the penalty of being a mother sadly characterizes our country, as emerges from the international comparative study “Women, work and demographic challenges. Models and strategies to support female employment and parenthood” created by the Gi Group Foundation and Gi Group Holding in collaboration with Valore D, with a focus on Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Italy has the lowest employment rate for women between 25 and 49 years old with at least one child, equal to 62%, far from the 86% in Sweden. And it is no better if you look at welfare for families: Germany invests 3.6% of its GDP in economic transfers and services, Italy just 1.2%, with a priority focus on economic subsidies. But the worst performance occurs when it comes to nursery schools and nursery schools: Italy does not guarantee early childhood education and assistance and is therefore, together with Spain, the least virtuous country among those considered. In other words: we are the state with the largest “non-coverage gap” for the period from the birth of children to the start of primary school. In fact, in 2022, only 31% of working mothers were able to use nursery schools. To guarantee, by 2030, places in nursery schools for 45% of children between 0 and 2 years old, as expected by Europe, we therefore need to change pace. And do it quickly. Otherwise, mothers will continue to review their careers downward.

«In addition to guaranteeing free access to early childhood care services, countries such as Germany and Sweden ensure leaves of at least one year following birth, paid at least 80%. Italy also struggles a lot on this front and adds to these shortcomings the weight of other distortions, such as the gender pay gap” explains Rossella Riccò, head of the studies and research area of ​​the Gi Group Foundation. The gender gap in wages, in fact, means that women’s salaries, usually lighter, are also the most expendable. Added to this is the cultural issue: even today women are responsible for 70% of the total hours of unpaid care and assistance work.

Overcoming the divide between motherhood and employment, therefore, requires joint public and private efforts. And companies can do a lot to accelerate change, with measures such as extending paternity leave, smart-working, company nurseries or reskilling following returning from maternity leave. «These parenting support policies are more widespread in large companies, less so in SMEs, which often have fewer resources and are sometimes more linked to a traditional vision of roles – points out Barbara Falcomer, general director of Valore D. And she adds – C ‘there is a need to undermine culture and the system with stronger incentive policies for welfare and also to act on a legislative level to equalize parental leave.”

Intervening on maternity and work, therefore, has never been so urgent. «The demographic crisis that Italy is experiencing is proof of this, as is the talent shortage affecting many companies. Until we understand that the motherhood penalty it concerns all of us, and not just mothers, we will not be able to close the gap – says Chiara Violini, president of the Gi Group Foundation. And she concludes-Healing the divide between motherhood and work is an ethical, economic and cultural issue. It is, ultimately, a question of sustainability.”