No. 173 - Labour market transitions in Italy: a gender perspective

The paper evaluates gender differences in labour market transitions in Italy. Women have a lower employment rate than men, owing to their shorter periods of employment and lower probability of entering into employment. The shorter duration of periods of employment for women is related to a higher incidence of non-permanent jobs compared with men. Italian women remain inactive longer than men, especially when inactivity is for family care reasons. Unemployed women are more likely than unemployed men to drop out of the labour force, owing both to a stronger discouragement effect and to more stringent family care necessities. After the recession began in 2008, gender disparities in employment and inactivity declined, thanks mainly to the reduction in women transitioning from employment to inactivity.