In Italy 61,000 new mothers give up work: the 5 proposals of managers

In Italy, more than 61,000 women gave up their jobs in 2023 because of the difficulties in reconciling motherhood and work. According to data from the Labour Inspectorate, last year there were in fact 61,391 resignations of mothers. Starting from this number, which represents how difficult it is for mothers to remain 'anchored' to their job and career path, Manageritalia, the National Federation of Managers, Middle Managers and Executive Professionals of Commerce, Transport, Tourism, Services and Advanced Tertiary Sector, has imagined a proposal that it will present to the Chamber of Deputies on 16 October and a change of approach, starting from the lexicon: in a nutshell, say the managers, what if we switched from the concept of maternity to that of parenthood? The aim is to encourage greater balance, given that today, as the latest Inps report explained, one in five women, 18%, risk leaving the labour market after their first child. A percentage that, in the case of men who become fathers, falls from 9 to 8 per cent. So what is needed above all is investment, including public investment, to overcome a context where there are still too many women who give up work to take care of their families.

"In order for the country to grow economically and socially, it needs more young people and more women at work," says Marco Ballarè, who recently came to the helm of Manageritalia . "We have a duty to combine the productivity and competitiveness of companies with the wellbeing and sense of work of people, and for this we need to generate a cultural change at work, in the family and in society that no longer sees maternity as the exclusive responsibility of women but fully involves both parents. Moving from the concept of motherhood to that of increasingly shared parenting,' she explains.

Manageritalia will submit to policymakers five proposals designed to encourage more and more shared parenting that does not penalise women's work and careers: these include concessions, such as the €400 bonus for the purchase of goods for the unborn child, but also the extension of compulsory paternity leave from 10 days to one month for working fathers, as well as a series of tax reliefs for companies.

The association of managers wants to promote a real cultural change to combat gender inequality, to look at the rights and duties of parents regardless of gender, and to help women overcome all the difficulties they face when they want to work and be mothers. A change that is necessary to ensure not only demographic growth but above all the economic development of the entire country system. On 16 October, Ballarè, Luisa Quarta, coordinator of the Women Managers Group of Manageritalia, the Hon. Elena Bonetti of Azione, the Hon. Maria Elena Boschi of Italia Viva, Senator Paola Mancini of Fratelli d'Italia, the Hon. Laura Ravetto of Lega-Salvini Premier, the Hon. Lia Quartapelle of the Democratic Party, and Senator Mario Turco of MoVimento 5 stelle will discuss this issue with Ballarè.

Ballarè emphasises the fact that in order to make the country grow and make a contribution to the inversion of the demographic curve, 'the concrete help of Parliament, the Government, and the legislator is needed to have the support of a law that really guarantees this cultural and behavioural leap for everyone. In order to also involve the many Italians who work in our SMEs, we need a law and a small amount of funding that, at least at the beginning, will really shake up the world of work and the entire country'.