Feminization of labor in Italy

Abstract

This paper examines the process of feminization of labor in Italy over the past thirty years, intended here as i) the quantitative increase of female participation in paid labor and ii) the spreading of those employment patterns and conditions that used to affect only peripheral workers. The complex interaction between wage and contract flexibility on one hand, and the shift towards a service-based economy and the growing presence of women in the workforce on the other, is analyzed through descriptive statistics. A critical assessment of some EU work-life balance policies is also provided.