Gender inequality remains a pressing issue in Italy, affecting women in the workplace, family, and social spheres, according to the latest Gender Report presented by the INPS Board of Directors and Supervisors.
The report highlights substantial disparities in employment, wages, pensions, and access to support services.
Employment and Wage Gaps Persist
In 2023, the female employment rate in Italy stood at just 52.5%, compared to 70.4% for men, reflecting a significant gender gap of 17.9 percentage points. Female hiring accounted for only 42.3% of total employment, with permanent contracts granted to just 18% of women, compared to 22.6% of men. Part-time work remains disproportionately female, with 64.4% of part-time contracts held by women. Furthermore, 15.6% of employed women are in involuntary part-time roles, compared to just 5.1% of men.
The gender pay gap remains a serious issue, with women earning over 20% less than men across various economic sectors. The disparity is particularly stark in financial, insurance, and business services, where the gap reaches 32.1%, while in manufacturing, it stands at 20% and in trade at 23.7%.
Women Underrepresented in Leadership Roles
Despite achieving higher levels of education, women continue to be underrepresented in senior positions. In 2023, women made up 52.6% of high school graduates and 59.9% of university graduates. However, these educational achievements have not translated into greater workplace authority, as only 21.1% of managerial positions and 32.4% of executive roles are occupied by women.
The Burden of Care Work
Women in Italy continue to bear the majority of care responsibilities. In 2023, they took 14.4 million days of parental leave, compared to just 2.1 million for men. Access to childcare remains inadequate, with only Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, and Valle d’Aosta approaching the target of 45 nursery places per 100 children aged 0-2.
Gender-Based Violence and Limited Support
Reports of gender-based violence have increased, underscoring a persistent societal issue. The Freedom Income, a financial aid provided by INPS to women who have suffered domestic violence, supported 2,418 women in 2021. However, due to funding shortages, the program was limited in 2023 to just 233 beneficiaries in Emilia-Romagna and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, funded by regional resources.
Pension Inequality
While women make up a larger portion of pension recipients—7.9 million compared to 7.3 million men—they receive significantly lower payments. Women’s seniority and disability pensions are 25.5% and 32% lower than those of men, respectively, while the gap for old-age pensions reaches 44.1%. Women also struggle to meet the high contribution requirements for early retirement, with only 27% of female private-sector employees and 24.5% of self-employed women qualifying for early pensions.
Call for Action
Roberto Ghiselli, President of the INPS Board of Directors and Supervisors, emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to tackling gender inequality and discrimination. “Addressing the problem of gender discrimination means acting on all dimensions of the problem, which concern the labour market and organizational models in work, the network of services, the family dimension, and the cultural dimension,” he stated.
“The responsibility and commitment of all institutional, political, and associative actors is essential to ensure that the timid steps forward recorded in recent years lead to full equality, removing the obstacles that impede it.”
