Quality of life for women, Siena at the top. Women's work grows in small steps
by Marta Casadei and Valentina Melis
It is Siena the province in first place for the quality of life of women, a synthetic index now in its fifth edition, which averages across 14 indicators, two more than last year: from the employment rate to the percentage of female businesses, from the share of female municipal administrators to the number of paid days per year (this year literacy and the gender pay gap are added). The podium is occupied by two other provinces from central Italy: Florence (which won the 2024 edition), in second place, and Perugia (3rd) . Close on the other hand, Crotone: stable at the bottom compared to 2024.
Progress and criticalities
Looking at the national average data, in a generally positive context for employment, the female employment rate, which in the 20-64 age bracket is close to 58 per cent, takes a step forward. At the EU-27 level, in the same age bracket, the average is 70.8 per cent (with Germany at 77.7 per cent and the Netherlands at 79.7 per cent), but Italy is still making progress: in 2021 the same parameter was below 53 per cent. The peninsula remains split between provinces that are above the European average, such as Bolzano and Prato, and provinces where female employment sinks to 24.6 per cent (Taranto). Substantially stable (and rather low, at 29.3%) is the employment rate of young people between 15 and 29 years, led by Prato, Cuneo and Bergamo.
Unfortunately, the gender employment gap, i.e. the difference between male and female employment rates, also remains stable. At national level, it is over 19 percentage points. Aosta, Pesaro-Urbino and Trieste top the league table, with a gap of under 10 per cent, while the worst are Barletta-Andria-Trani and Taranto, where the gap is 41.4 per cent and 39.2 per cent respectively. Among the figures that improve on previous years is the number of paid days, which increase for female workers from 66 per cent in 2022 to 74.6 per cent in 2024. The lower number of days worked is one of the main causes of the pay gap between men and women, which in the private sector, on average, is €8,134 per year (Inps data referring to 2024, published on 18 November), a worsening compared to the €7,997 recorded for 2023. It is no better in the public sector, where the wage gap between men and women is EUR 9,438 per year (a slight improvement compared to EUR 9,482 in 2023).
Due to the need to reconcile work and family life, it is mainly women who resort to part-time work: in the second quarter of 2025, for example, out of a total of 3.8 million workers with a part-time employment relationship, 2.9 million were women. The new gender pay gap indicator, which indicates the percentage difference between the pay of female and male workers, shows an average gap of 31.2 per cent. Better than all Italian provinces does Prato, with a gap of 20 per cent, followed by Imperia, Fermo, Roma and Siena. And despite standing out in the female employment rankings, Bolzano has a gender pay gap of over 35 per cent. The worst is Siracusa, where the wage gap is 41.5 per cent.
The incidence of female municipal administrators and numerical skills are improving, while the incidence of female graduates in the 25-49 age group is slightly decreasing (the national average is 21.3 per cent, but Bologna and Milan are above 30 per cent). Despite the funding provided by the NRP, the incidence of women's enterprises remains almost stable at 23 per cent. Several southern provinces record higher percentages (Benevento and Avellino are close to 30 per cent), but it is likely that the absence of other job prospects, which induces people to open a VAT number, affects this figure.
