Yet the employment rate for women is still no more than 46 per cent, 20 points less than for men. It is lower than in practically every other European country, especially in the higher positions and among women with children. Holding education and experience constant, women’s earnings are 10 per cent lower than men’s.
Women still devote a great deal more time to home and family in Italy than in other countries. Greater availability of services would help, as would the organization of work to facilitate the reconciliation of family and job commitments and an attenuation of the implicit tax disincentives for women’s work.