The fact that many women do not return to work after giving birth to their first child may reflect the choice to concentrate on caring for their offspring, but it may also stem from the difficulty of reconciling work with maternity. The loss of human resources is plain.
About a quarter of Italian women between the ages of 25 and 45 with a secondary schooling do not participate in the labour market, compared with 8 per cent for men. Nor is this lesser presence of women accompanied by a greater propensity to have children: the fertility rate in Italy, together with Spain and Greece, is significantly below the European average.