Female employment falls for those with children, university graduates resist

Female employment has grown consistently over the last 10 years in Italia from 50.5% in the third quarter of 2015 to 58.3% in the same period in 2025, but the gap with the EU has widened from 12.7 points to 13.2. In the 15-64 age group, 57.6% of women were active in 2024, more than 13 points lower than the EU average. In the Mezzogiorno this share was just 43.1 per cent.

Virtually all the statistical observatories, from Eurostat to Istat and the Bank of Italia, point out that a major obstacle for women in our country is the (little) possibility of reconciling family and work. But also, again from the data, it emerges how one of the ways to reduce the gap is through education. But let us proceed in order.

In Italia, the employment rate of women falls with the birth of children and plummets when the third child arrives, especially for women with low education, while women with a university degree resist and maintain high employment, with rates close to those of men, even with a large family. According to Eurostat, in Italia between the ages of 25 and 49, 64.9% of women are employed, but if for those without children the percentage rises to 68.5%, it drops to 64.8% with one child, 62.5% with two children, and 42.3% with three children or more (to 36.6% if the last child is less than six years old). According to a number of studies, if Italia managed to remove the obstacles a woman faces after motherhood over the next twenty years, it would be possible to close more than a third of the gender gap in employment.

Among those with a low level of education (up to eighth grade), the employment rate for women is 41.1% overall but if it is 47.9% for those without children it drops to 42.9% among those with one child, 36.3% among those with two children and 18.7% among those with at least three children. For men in the same age group and with a low level of education with three children, the employment rate is 81.2%, more than 62 points higher. Among female university graduates, the employment rate is 81% overall, just over six points lower than for men (the gap is over 35 points for those with low education) but above all, it is not greatly affected by the arrival of children. It is 79.2% for those without children, 83.3% for those with one child, 83.4% for those with two children and 78.3% for those with at least three children. The figure is affected by the fact that low education is likely to leave low-paid jobs while better paid jobs are more difficult to give up.

Internationally, the general situation is somewhat better than in Italy. In the EU average, 77.6% of women between the ages of 25 and 49 work. The percentage rises to 80.9% if there are no children while it drops to 78% with one child, 77.3% with two children and 59.8% with three children. In low education situations, women with at least three children have an average employment rate of 31.3%. In Germany, 81.3% of women in this age group work, with a rate of 86.9% among those without children and 56.4% for those with at least three children. In France, perhaps also thanks to reconciliation policies, 78.8% work in this middle age group but 59.9% of those with at least three children.