Labour supply of Italian Mothers. A Comparison with the Other EU Countries: Facts, Data and Public Policies

Recent social and labour market policies in Italy have altered childcare costs and availability, increased opportunities for part-time jobs and flexibility in working hours and extended parental leave. This analysis focuses on the impact of these changes on the labour supply of mothers in Italy in comparison with other countries. Data from Eurostat and the OECD, and empirical results from the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) and from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) are presented. The data show how the situation of Italian mothers is not dissimilar from that of mothers in other southern European countries, in particular Spain and Greece.