A boom in the “Family Book” in domestic work in the most complex phase of the Covid-19 health pandemic. This was reported by the Domina Observatory. The Family Booklet is an instrument that came into force in 2017, replacing the so-called “Vouchers”. The current legislation on occasional work services (Law 96/2017) in fact provides for a pre-financed name booklet, consisting of payment titles with a nominal value of 10 euros per hour, which can be spent for three types of activities: small housework, including gardening work. , cleaning or maintenance; home care for children and the elderly, sick or disabled and, finally, additional private tuition.
The boom in 2020: +559 thousand workers paid with the Libretto compared to 2019
Analyzing the data relating to the period 2019-2020, the focus shows that if before the pandemic, the Family Book was used by Italian families for a few categories of jobs (in 2019 the domestic workers hired through this solution were just over 21 thousand) , since 2020 – having been chosen by the legislator for the management of the babysitter bonus -, this tool has seen an exponential growth. In fact, in 2020 workers paid by booklet were 580 thousand (+559 thousand compared to 2019, with an increase of 27 times), for an economic volume of 687 million euros compared to 63 million hours worked. According to Domina, this increase was determined both by the state incentive and by the behavior of families to manage the closure of schools due to the pandemic.
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Sudden peak in March 2020, decline starting from the summer months
In 2019, the number of domestic workers hired through the Family Book had always fluctuated between 6,000 and 11,000 units per month, without significant differences. In 2020, however, this indicator recorded a sudden peak in March (first lockdown), exceeding 100,000 units, and continued to grow until June, when it exceeded 300,000 units. In the summer months, a decline began, returning to the order of 10-13 thousand units starting from September.
Among the beneficiary workers there is a clear prevalence of women
Among the beneficiaries of the Family Booklet, the Domina Observatory notes a clear prevalence of women (over 70%). However – the report highlights -, this incidence has had an inconsistent trend: in 2019 it recorded a peak in the months of June and July, reaching 85%, while in 2020 it recorded a continuous progression, reaching almost the 90%.
Greater use in Lombardy, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna
It is also possible to analyze the data at a regional level. Comparing the average monthly beneficiaries between 2019 and 2020, the increase was 11.5 times, with peaks in the Southern regions, more than 30 times. with greater use were Lombardy, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna. If before Covid in these regions the use of the work book did not exceed 1,300 monthly workers, in the year of the pandemic they exceeded 8 thousand units per month for Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, reaching 10 thousand for Lazio and Veneto. In Lombardy, in 2020, 19,000 workers were paid through the work book a month. At the level of growth, the southern regions indicate the highest, where monthly usage was on average 30 times greater. In Basilicata in 2019 only 20 domestic workers were registered per month, paid through the family book, in 2020 there were 744. The same for Sicily (from 150 to 4,591) or Calabria (from 61 to 2040).