The autonomous province of Bolzano is in first place in the ranking of the most ‘mother friendly’ regions, while Basilicata is last, preceded by Campania and Sicily. This is what emerges from the ninth edition of the report “Le Equilibriste-Maternity in Italy 2024”, drawn up by ‘Save the Children’ in collaboration with Istat. In second place, behind the autonomous province of Bolzano, are Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, which has gained a position compared to last year. Among the regions that have improved the most are Lazio, which went from 13th to eighth place, and Lombardy, which went from eighth to fifth.
In the document ‘Save the Children’ it recalls that in Italy one worker in five leaves the job market after becoming a mother. 72.8% of the “validations” of the resignation of new parents concern women, while the average number of children per woman continues to decline (1.20) and there is a higher average age (32.5 years ) of women giving birth among European countries. An indicator of the difficulties that mothers face in reconciling family and work commitments, the report states, is represented by the number of employed women in the 25-54 age group: compared to a female employment rate of 63.8% , childless women who work reach 68.7%, while only 57.8% of those with two or more minor children are employed. On the contrary, for men of the same age, the total employment rate is 83.7%, with a variation ranging from 77.3% for those without children, up to 91.3% for those with a minor child and 91.6% for those with two or more.
“The good news”, underlined Antonella Inverno, head of Research and Analysis of ‘Save the Children’ Italy, “is that compared to 2022 the territorial gaps have decreased and in the special ranking drawn up by Istat for our Mothers’ Index the distance between Basilicata and the autonomous province of Bolzano it decreased by seven points. The overall value of Italy as a country system has also increased, a sign of greater awareness on the topic of parenting support after years of public debate”.
Vincenzo Murgolo
