ROME. Italy is last in Europe for female employment rate and many young women are NEET, that is they do not study, do not work and are not looking for a job. Confartigianato raises the alarm, which goes into detail: «Italy does not support women’s work. we are in last place in the EU for the employment rate, equal to 58.1%, of women between 25 and 49 years of age in a couple with dependent children and 71.2% of NEETs under 35 is represented by 651,000 young women who do not study, do not work and do not seek employment”.
The Confartigianato report
The data emerges from a report by Confartigianato presented at the Convention of Donne Impresa Confartigianato, which represents small businesses led by women and takes place today in Rome. “We need a change in policies for women’s work. Enough with the commercials», underlines the president of Donne Impresa Confartigianato, Daniela Biolatto. With the Covid crisis first and the energy crisis now, “between 2019 and 2022, independent female work decreased by 5.8%”.
The study “highlights the difficulties experienced by female entrepreneurs in these years of crisis. Following the pandemic, the female component of the economy suffered a 3.6% drop in added value, more than the -2% average, with more marked drops for the catering sectors (-28.7%), fashion (-19.9%), personal services (-16.3%). The energy crisis has particularly affected the 29,066 companies led by women in the energy-intensive sectors (food, paper, chemicals, rubber and plastics, metals, textiles and glass, ceramics, cement). And now the increases in interest rates decided by the monetary authorities could weigh, on an annual basis, with 270 million in higher credit costs for the 111,000 small businesswomen who have applied for loans from banks”.
More is spent on the elderly
“Female entrepreneurs and Italian women in general – says Daniela Biolatto – have to deal with the lack of policies in favor of female employment and with a welfare system that does not help to reconcile work with family care”.
According to Confartigianato, Italian public spending is heavily biased in favor of the elderly to the detriment of interventions for families and young people: compared to 17.07 euros earmarked for healthcare and pensions for the elderly, only 1 euro goes to families and young people. A situation that places us in twenty-fourth position in the European ranking. The effects can be seen, for example, on childcare services, which are less widespread in Italy than the EU average: Confartigianato indicates that there are 3,400 Italian municipalities with a serious shortage of nursery schools. Furthermore, only 0.56% of public expenditure and 1% of the European structural funds, equal to a total of 6 billion euros, finance interventions to reduce gender inequalities.
The strength of women between study and work
Despite these obstacles – the report continues – Italian women are the most enterprising in Europe: in fact, our country has 1,469,000 female entrepreneurs and self-employed workers, the highest number among EU countries, with a higher level of education than their male colleagues : 41.1% are in fact university graduates, an almost double percentage compared to 21.4% of men. “We need a change in policies for women’s work. Enough with the spot interventions: the future of our country – warns the president of Donne Impresa Confartigianato – also depends on how much and how we will invest, with structural and stable measures, to promote the full and lasting participation of women in the labor market. Also thanks to the resources of the Pnrr we have the unmissable opportunity to create the conditions to finally support and enhance the talent of women and their ability to contribute to economic and social growth”.