Work-family reconciliation policies and practices among dual earner couples in Italy

This paper addresses two questions: i) are reconciliation policies changing in Italy, due to the decline in public spending after the economic crisis, and if so, how?; ii) how, in this institutional context, dual earner couples in the transition to the first parenthood define their gendered strategies (Hochschild, 1989) of work-family reconciliation, mediating between preferences and constraints and combining public and private resources? The authors first describe the main 2010-2013 work-family reconciliation and perinatal policies and services in Italy with a focus on Piedmont Region. Then they analyse 68 longitudinal in-depth interviews conducted in the same period and area with 17 middle class dual earner couples before and a year and half after the arrival of their first child, in order to explore the process through which public interventions are (not) included in reconciliation (planned and realised) practices. Results show the reduction of the opportunities offered to families by public policies. On the other hand, local innovative interventions trying to encourage more equal gender practices (such as support for resigning mothers, integration allowance for fathers taking parental leave) involve a small number of parents, and therefore are feasible in times of limited public expenditure. Qualitative analysis reveals that among the majority of the respondents the mother’s presence is considered the best for the child and the father is expected to invest more in paid work. Furthermore reconciliation is seen mainly as a private (female) matter.