Differenze Nord/Sud nella relazione tra condizione lavorativa e fecondità in Italia

Abstract

This paper analyses the differences in the relationship between employment status and transition to parenthood between Northern and Southern Italy. Despite the relationship between employment and fertility is a research topic of primary interest, scarce attention has been paid to regional differences, in favour of cross-national comparisons. Italy is a particularly interesting case study because of its deep regional differences both in terms of fertility and economic development. Using micro-level high-quality retrospective data, I applied event history analysis techniques to study the relationship between employment status and transition to parenthood separately in the two Italian macro-regions and by gender. Results suggest that men’s employment status is especially important for transition to parenthood, while women’s non-employment is (still) associated to higher chances of becoming mother in Southern Italy, substantially confirming previous macro-level findings. Time-limited employment is negatively associated to the probability of having the first child only in Northern Italy. All things considered, the study indicates that the relationship between labour market dynamics and fertility differs remarkably between Northern and Southern Italy. Accordingly, future research on this topic needs to take into consideration the substantial heterogeneity among Italian macro-regions.