Low Fertility and Labour Force Participation of Italian Women Evidence and Interpretations

In Italy, as well as in other Southern European countries, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our proposed explanation for this apparent anomaly involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and im...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Del Boca, Daniela (-)
Formato: Capítulo de libro electrónico
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: Paris : OECD Publishing 2002.
Colección:OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers, no.61.
Materias:
Ver en Biblioteca Universitat Ramon Llull:https://discovery.url.edu/permalink/34CSUC_URL/1im36ta/alma991009705957806719
Descripción
Sumario:In Italy, as well as in other Southern European countries, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our proposed explanation for this apparent anomaly involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and imperfections in the labor market and characteristics of the publicly-funded child care system. These rigidities tend to simultaneously increase the costs of having children and to discourage the labor market participation of married women. We analyze a model of labor supply and fertility, using panel data from the Bank of Italy which have been merged with regional data describing the available opportunities in each sample household’s environment. The empirical results show that the availability of child care and part time work increase both the probability of working and having a child. Policies which would provide more flexible working hours choices and greater child care availability ...
Descripción Física:1 online resource (26 p. )