Work or family? For many women it is still a dilemma

Work or children? Women are still forced to choose, today like yesterday, or more than yesterday. A trend that Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pledged to change. "We intend to work in this sense, aiming at a rebalancing of the wage gap and a welfare system that allows women to devote the same energy to their career as their male colleagues, overcoming the choice between family or work". The Recovery Plan is an unmissable opportunity to reduce the inequalities that the Covid crisis has aggravated. Maybe in the not too distant future it could happen, but now it isn't. Not a way of saying or thinking: the data from the Ministry of Labor describe the bitter reality that is experienced in Sardinia, here as elsewhere.

However, an insight into Sardinian women comes out of the precious work done by the office of the regional councilor for equality, Maria Tiziana Putzolu. Together with the women she works with, she has managed to focus on the condition of women in the world of work, highlighting the obstacles that still stand in the way of so many women, often relegated to a role not up to them just because working times are not easily reconcilable with those of a family and with the desire to bring children into the world, which is often given up precisely because it is a choice that clashes with the context in which one lives. And it is not to be fooled if in the year of the pandemic the figures show a decline, that is, more women were forced to leave their jobs before in order to care for their children. In fact, in the year of Covid, the restrictions imposed long quarantines which, in the end, in any case facilitated the stay in the home of working mothers (or fathers), in some cases also thanks to smart working.

The data

The report says that in 2020, 549 women and 79 men threw in the towel and chose between working and caring for a small child, for a total of 625 male and female workers. A figure slightly down compared to the previous year in which they had chosen the path of voluntary resignation to be able to look after a small child 803 workers. In the two years 2019 and 2020 - underlines the report of the equality councilor - there are however a total of 1,428 workers who leave their jobs, most of which are women. A number, 625, so high, 625 expelled from the world of work, forced to stay at home, in the same way as those who are fired find themselves on the street. "The issue linked to voluntary resignation for maternity is a long-standing, slow and progressive karst phenomenon that puts families on the ropes when they have to deal with work and childcare", explains Maria Tiziana Putzolu. «A phenomenon that is difficult to observe in daily life, but it is absolutely present among the cases that come to my office. There are many women who ask for help, especially in public employment or in large companies, to obtain, for example, a part-time job, which is still the most popular form of organization of working time that allows workers to be able to reconcile life working with the family at acceptable costs, but unfortunately often not granted with reasons generically attributable to staff shortages ». Unfortunately, the data collected by the Ministry of Labor tell a still different reality in very small companies. “It is true that if there are fewer children in Sardinia, it is for a long series of reasons, as I often say too. The social behaviors and attitudes of women towards motherhood have profoundly changed over the last few decades. We must not forget, however, that it is also true that when you decide to start a family, a real obstacle course begins. This path actually involves both parents, but it is mainly women who choose whether to stay at home or continue to work ".

The identikit

The data makes it possible to trace a profile of the worker who left her job in 2020 in Sardinia. In pole position is a woman between 24 and 44 years old, Italian (but there is also a small number of foreign workers), who has been working in the company for no more than three years, worker (300 women and 61 men) or office worker (225 women and 15 men). Mostly (415 women and 56 men) work in commerce (262) and in accommodation and catering services (84 women and 16 men), in health and social assistance (63 women and 1 man). In 64% of cases, they work part-time (377 women and 20 men) and most of them have only one child who is not even one year old. Why do they leave their jobs? Their answer is: "For the difficulties in reconciling it with the care of the little one."

Pandemic effect

How can we interpret these data relating to 2020 given that it has been a difficult and pandemic year? «In the meantime - explains the equality councilor - it will be important to understand what will happen for the current year when we have the data. Let's not forget that in Sardinia thousands of places were lost in the pandemic and that, albeit slightly improving, it will take a long time for the occupation to return to the state from which it started. In this scenario, in any case, those who leave work for reasons related to the birth of a child are workers of a fairly low income bracket, considering that they often work with a part - time contract in very fragile production sectors, as in the case of small trade or catering, or in social assistance ». These figures are slightly down on the previous year. It can be hypothesized, adds Putzolu - “that the shutdown of the catering sectors due to quarantine, has slowed the resignation because the workers with very young children were able to stay at home with forms of social safety nets provided by the government. In any case, the data confirm that within a weak labor market, it is especially the workers who arrive later and later to maternity leave and, also because of the low salary and the rhythms of work, often for shifts. incessant as in the restaurant or in the trade, they cannot face or sustain very high costs for baby care supports ».

The damage is irreversible: «The job that has been left behind», explains the equality councilor, «is a job that is never found by the worker herself, who often gives up and leaves the market for good. Coordinated and systematic action is needed, but convinced and fast, to relieve this situation and many resources could come from the new programming of the ESF and ERDF Funds 2021-2027 as well as from the measures envisaged in the National Resistance and Resilience Plan. But we need a great idea, an extraordinary plan for the work of Sardinian women, supported by all, for the good of Sardinia ».