Italy, mothers and caregivers without protection
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 30 years without a solution
17th November 2019
Disability Pride Network
26th November 2019
Italy is not a country for mothers. Nor for the broader set of cd caregiver, that is, those who take care of children but also of sick, elderly and / or disabled family members. Which express 1 out of 3 Italian, as well as 40% of the workforce. In the Istat report 'Reconciliation between work and family, year 2018 ', published on 18.11.19, the scenario of the Italian social disaster. (1)
Maternity and work, the missing combination
Precariousness and fixed-term contracts drastically reduce, in fact, the chance to keep the job after maternity. It is no coincidence that the employment rate of mothers with young children (57%, in the 25-54 age group) is lower than the female average (72,1%).
Women who have never worked to be able to take care of at least one child are triple in Italy (11,1%), compared to the average in the European Union (3,7%). Indeed, in the South, 'one in five women with at least one child report that they have never worked to be able to care for them'.
The lowest employment rates are recorded among mothers of preschool children, '53% for women with 0-2 year old children and 55,7% for those with 3-5 year old children'. With abysmal differences:
- between Southern Italy (35,9%) and the rest of the country (65,1% in the Center and 69,4% in the North),
- in relation to the qualification. The employment rate of mothers with a degree exceeds 80%, compared to 34% for those with a qualification equal to or lower than the middle school certificate.
Children and work, reconciling is difficult
Difficulties of conciliation are more evident in the first 5 years of age of children. Obstacles are recorded in 46,7% of women who work full-time (39% of those part-time) with preschool children (almost 300 million in all).
Italian mothers - even if they manage to work 'despite the children'(and the discrimination of many employers) - are often forced to reduce hours and / or change jobs. This happens in 38,3% of cases, in the presence of infra-15 year old offspring. And to a lesser extent (11,9%) also to fathers. With prejudice to pay and career opportunities, which aggravate the gender gap.
'Between busy parents with children under the age of 15, 35,9% of mothers and 34,6% of fathers complain of problems of reconciliation between work and family. Just under a third of families with minor children use the services, 38% count on the help of family members, especially grandparents, or friends'. (1)
Public service, the dearly departed
The State, the Regions and the municipalities are in hiding. THE childcare services , public and private, are accessible only to three out of ten families. And the latter are in any case burdensome, unsustainable for many families - one in three in Italy - who already now, in the presence of minor children, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The rescue net is thus represented by grandparents, relatives and friends.
'31% of households with cohabitating children aged 0-14, he regularly avails himself of public or private services for at least one of the children, such as nursery schools, nursery schools, pre or post school, playrooms, babysitters or other. The percentage is higher in the North (34,5%) and in the Center (33,3%), lower in the South (24,9%). Help for care provided regularly by relatives or friends is used by 38% of families with children aged 0-14, in nine cases out of ten the support is provided by grandparents (34,4%)'.
Family care and work, the impact on Italian society
12 million and 746 thousand people between 18 and 64 years - i.e. more than a third of the inhabitants in Italy (34,6%), four out of ten workers - in 2018 they cared for children under 15 or sick, disabled or elderly relatives .
'Among the employed, almost 40% of 18-64 year olds carries out care activities. Being engaged in a work activity and at the same time having to take care of small children or relatives who are not self-sufficient involves a modulation of the time to devote to work and to the family which can affect the participation of individuals in the labor market, especially women, who they carry a greater burden of these responsibilities'.
Mothers and caregivers without protection, the angels without a country
Over 2 million and 800 thousand they are people who regularly provide 'care activities' to children over-15 or other relatives because they are sick, disabled or elderly. (2) The responsibility for care lies with 9,4% of women and 5,9% of men between 18 and 64 years of age. With a prevalence in the 45-64 age group (12,2%) and among the 'inactive' (9%).
I caregiver - the 'angels' of sick, elderly and / or disabled family members - make up for the unacceptable shortcomings of the public system. Indeed, the Italian Republic has the duty to provide appropriate assistance to those in conditions of illness and disability, on the basis of UN conventions punctually ratified.
The state however, he systematically fails to fulfill his social assistance duties and it is only thanks to the commitment of the care-giver that disadvantaged people can live with dignity. These benefactors in the most serious cases are forced to give up their work and thus enter the category of 'inactive', in the cynicism of statistics. Their sacrifice makes up for the inaction of the institutions, which however leave them without any form of protection. (3) Under both income and pension profiles.
The mockery of Italian politics ai caregiver family
The mockery ai caregiver family members is constituted by the failure to implement the measures established in the 2018 budget law. (4) Where for the first time, better late than never, the 'Fund for the support of the role of care and assistance of the caregiver familiar'. (5) The aforementioned law has indeed provided for an annual budget - for the three-year period 2018-2020 - of 20 million euros.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance, however - in the two years and three governments that have passed in the meantime - has not adopted the decree necessary to find in the budget the resources to finance the so-called Fund Caregivers'. INPS, in turn, failed to publish the circular necessary to define the procedures for accessing the aforementioned fund.
Politics and the heads of the public administration in Italy they must not only be ashamed of the violation of fundamental human rights and the omissions of the aforementioned official acts. Rather, they must stop deceiving the voters and do their job.
# Égalité!
Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini
Note
(1) ISTAT (2019). Reconciliation between work and family, year 2018
(2) By 'nursing activities' we mean those provided on a regular basis:
- towards children, personal care (help with washing, dressing, eating, etc.), accompaniment to school, help with schoolwork, company activities (e.g. games, reading fairy tales), surveillance or daily management activities, etc.
- towards family members over-15 and sick, disabled or elderly, health services (e.g. injections, medications, etc.), care and assistance (help with washing, dressing, eating, etc.), help with domestic activities (e.g. washing, ironing, shopping, preparing meals, etc.), companionship, accompaniment, carrying out extra-domestic work activities, help in studying, etc.
(3) The measures established almost 30 years ago with Law 104/1992 (Framework law for assistance, social integration and the rights of handicapped persons) allow the caregiver some facilities and work permits for the assistance of the disabled family member. But such permits presuppose that, outside those hours of leave, the seriously disabled receives a free public service of care and assistance. What unfortunately does not happen, beyond the hypothesis of hospitalization in hospitals or dedicated structures
(4) See law 205/17, article 1, paragraph 254-256
(6) 'A family caregiver is defined as the person who assists and takes care of the spouse, of the other party to the civil union between persons of the same sex or of the de facto cohabitant pursuant to law May 20, 2016, n. 76, of a family member or a related person within the second degree, or, only in the cases indicated in article 33, paragraph 3, of law no. 5, of a family member up to the third degree who, due to illness, infirmity or disability, even chronic or degenerative, is not self-sufficient and able to take care of himself, is recognized as invalid because he is in need of global and continuous long-term assistance duration pursuant to article 1992, paragraph 104, of law no. 3, or is the holder of an accompanying allowance pursuant to the law of 3 February 5, n. 1992'(law 205/17, article 1, paragraph 255)
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
