Women and work in Italy: a long road to travel

Female employment and existing incentives

Gender equality is a fundamental human right, as well as the cornerstone of a fully inclusive society that aims to improve the living conditions of people and communities.

To date, women still do not enjoy equal participation in political, economic and public life, continue to be subject to discrimination and violence, receive lower wages and face cultural barriers to advancing a career.

Although women are increasingly present in various working fields and reach prominent positions in some sectors, these changes are not yet systematic and strong imbalances remain.

Italy last in Europe

The dossier “Female employment” by the Research Service of the Chamber of Deputies, published last December, highlights the strong gender inequalities in Italy, which is at the bottom of Europe for the female employment rate.

In the peninsula, the female employment rate "appears to be - according to data relating to the fourth quarter of 2022 - the lowest among the states of the European Union, being approximately 14 percentage points below the EU average: the employment rate of women aged between 20 and 64 was, in fact, equal to 55%, while the average EU employment rate was equal to 69.3%”.

In the latest report, the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development reports that the progress of the last seven years towards achieving the Goal 5 (Gender Equality) of the 2030 Agenda have been limited.

Critical profiles

The Chamber's report shows that the labor market is still characterized by a accentuated gender pay gap. According to the latest Eurostat data, the average pay gap (i.e. the difference in gross hourly pay between men and women) is equal to 5% (below the European average which is 13%), while the overall one (i.e. the difference between the average annual salary received by women and men) is equal to 43% (above the European average, which is instead equal to 36.2%). According to data from the INPS Observatory on private sector employees, in 2022 the average annual salary is constantly higher for the male gender: 26,227 euros for men versus 18,305 euros for women, with a difference of 7,922 euros.

As reported by the periodic survey on the evolution of wages carried out by ODM Consulting the gender pay gap in Italy stands at 10.7% in 2023.

A further critical issue concerns the characteristics of the employment: largely precarious and in low-profit or not very strategic sectors, with a large prevalence of part-time jobs.

The low participation of women is determined by various factors, including the absence or scarcity of services that help reconcile life and work. One in five women leaves the job market following motherhood and the decision is determined for over half of women (52%) by work-life balance needs and for 19% by economic considerations. The employment rate of women aged between 25 and 49 with childrenthose under the age of 6 is equal to 55.5%, while that of women of the same age without children is 76.6%.

According to the ISTAT SDGs 2023 Report, the division of the workload for family care between men and women is not improving. In this scenario, education is a protective factor for the employment of women with young children: the employment difference between the status of mother and non-mother is very low in the presence of a higher level of education, with an indicator value of 91.5%

Incentives for gender equality

The legislator has provided for certain contribution exemptions in favor of employers who hire women, with the aim of supporting the entry and strengthening of the presence of women in the world of work.

Companies that hire on a fixed-term or permanent basis or transform a previous fixed-term contract into a permanent one are entitled to a reduction in the contributions owed by the employer equal to 50% for 2024, with no limit on the annual amount.

The benefit refers to female workers:

• at least 50 years of age and unemployed for over 12 months;
• of any age, resident anywhere and without regularly paid employment for at least 24 months;
• of any age, without regularly paid employment for at least 6 months and resident in a disadvantaged area;
• of any age, without regularly paid employment for at least 6 months with professions or work activities in economic sectors characterized by an accentuated gender disparity.

The maximum duration of use of the incentive is equal to:

• 12 months in the case of a fixed-term contract;
• 18 months in the case of a permanent contract or transformation of a previous relationship into a permanent contract. In the latter case, if the relationship was facilitated from the origin, the duration starts from the date of hiring, vice versa from the date of transformation.

The hiring of unemployed women who are victims of violence on a fixed-term or permanent basis, as well as the transformation of a previous fixed-term contract into a permanent contract, gives the right to a total exemption from contributions, up to a maximum amount of 8,000 euros per year.

The duration of the benefit is equal to:

• 24 months if the contract is for an indefinite period;
• 18 months in the case of transformation to a permanent one and the calculation takes place from the date of hiring to a fixed-term contract;
• 12 months if the contract is for a fixed term.

The contribution exemption is valid for the three-year period 2024-2026 and is considered state aid and therefore subject to the limitation of 300,000 euros for 3 financial years.

Women's businesses

In the 2023 annual report, Istat reports that female businesses active in 2020 were 1 million and 200 thousand (around 27% of the total), operating mostly in the service sector (69% compared to 51% of male businesses), characterized by a higher incidence in the tertiary sector.

In order to encourage female businesses, the 2021 budget law established the Women's Enterprise Fund, with programs and initiatives for the dissemination of the culture of entrepreneurship among the female population, training programs and orientation towards STEM study paths and towards typical professions of the digital economy.

For 2024, the Made in Italy DDL has allocated new funds for female entrepreneurship, amounting to 10 million euros. We talk about fizero-interest subsidized financing, with a maximum duration of 10 years for projects involving investments of up to 3 million euros up to a maximum coverage of 90% of eligible expenses.