Corinna De Leo (Università degli Studi di Siena)

Beyond Choice: The Role of Labour Demand in Shaping the Child Penalty in the Italian Labor Market

The seminar will be online only

Abstract: Despite reductions in gender gaps in education and earnings, women still face significant labour market disparities, mainly due to the child penalty, a term for indicating the unequal impact of parenthood between men and women, with the latter exhibiting deprived labour market outcomes after the born of their child, while man does not. Existing research primarily focuses on labour supply factors like women’s choices to reduce work post-childbirth. This paper shifts the focus on labour demand, examining the role of involuntary job separations in Italy. Using the Longitudinal Sample Inps (LoSaI) dataset, I find that mothers have 60\% higher probability of being fired post-childbirth compared to childless women. This increase is driven by dismissals for justified objective reasons rather than disciplinary layoffs. These findings highlight the need for policies addressing employer-driven job separations to mitigate the child penalty.