GENDER ISSUESACADEMIC YEAR2014-15

Maria A. ConfalonieriLecture 11

The origins of the Italian welfare state and of its gender regime in1861-1945. The post-WW2

development

Historical institutionalism

• Founding phase -originary model

• Path dependent development

• 1861-1930 – “modello della tutela”(tutelage model)

1861

• Unification of Italy

• Deterioration civil rights of womenCodice Pisanelli

• Proposals for reforms by the liberal and radicals: divorce, abolition of the authorization of the husbands to deal with properties (1961-90)

• After 1890 alliance Centre-Right and Church against the growth of Socialism.

The first legislation on mothers “tutelage”

• Women labor was a crucial resource for industry (textiles): wages less ½ than men’s wages.

• 1886 a law on children’s work approved but women excluded from the protection.

• Problem framing: women ad children as “special” “Weak” workers deserving protection

• 1902 –Legge Carcano- maternity leave , unpaid, for women working in factories (excluding agricultural and home workers) poorly enforced

• Covergence of the Church, Liberals, the Socialist and even employers.

• Against protection some radical feminists but a minority in the Socialist movement.

Anna Maria Mozzoni-opposition to protection laws

Protection laws will bring the exclusion of women from work, confining them in their homes “ like hens, brooding their eggs, in solitude and silence “

Feminists in the Socialist Movement

Anna Kulishoff

The demand for wage equality lukewarmly supported by the Socialist movement

Post- WW1 Rewarding women for war effort?

Reforms 1916-21

• In 1917 a law was introduced abolishing the authorization of husbands for wives to deal with their property.

• Women admitted to work in Public Administration, but excluding them from a number of high positions : de facto rank- and-file.

• A bill for the vote for women was voted in the Chamber of Deputees and passed to the Seneta for approval but the legislative process was interrupted by the crisis that led to the installation of Fascism

Fascism

• Explicit family policy• Reinforce the traditional family model and the authority

of fathers (Civil and Criminal Law)• Natalism as a correlate of aggressive nationalism:

abortion as a crime against the race and prohibition of contraceptives. Symbolic and monetary incentives to families with many children.

• Expulsion of women from the labor market and tutelage of working mothers .

• Yet..political mobilization of women through the fascist party

Women in the Liberation War against Nazism and Fascism

Voting rights 1944

• As in France • Right to be elected only in 1946.• Intra-party consensus (despite fears of the Left

that women will disproportionality vote for the right and the monarchy).

• Also fears of low female voting turn-out , which was not the case …

• Strenght of women interparty political organizations GDD(Groups for Defense of Women) UDI- in 1945 Catholic women split and form CIF

1946 vote for women- Local elections and Constitutional

Assembly

Constitutional assembly : few but authoritative and determinate women’ members (46-48)

Women’s rights in the Constitution

• Art. 3 formal equality (but also legal basis for equal opportunities “remove obstacles to equality”)

• Equality in the family• Equal treatment at work• Equal access to careers• An advanced Constitutional compromise

(between secular parties and Christian Democracy)

• The “Freezing of the Constitution” in the 50s

1946-1960 Cold war political polarization and women’s issues

the Italian version of the male breadwinner model that consolidated in Italy in the late Forties and in the Fifties

• The main features of are the following:

• -Difficult access of women to the labour market, due to both factors of labour supply (few services supporting the work of care) and of labour demand (few job opportunities in the industrial sector and late development of service sector) and to labour market policies that gave priority to protecting the jobs of the adult males.

• -A relatively high level of formal equality in employment rights, particularly regarding wage equality, but poor mechanisms of implementation and enforcement of the rights formally granted.

• – A good protection of working mothers through provisions for maternity leave relatively generous both in time and money.

• -A remarkable dualism of the female labour market, with a “core” labour market (including big firms in industry and in the modern service sector and the public sector) and a lager secondary, under-regulated or un-regulated labour market, including very small enterprises, outwork and other

The “economic miracle” :declining employment of women

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T.occ.M

T. occup.F

T.disocc.F

Patterns of women’s labour market participation by age : 1977,1993,2003

Italian women’s political machinery

• 1983-85

• Foreign models + European pressure

• National Equality Committee- labour market equality : part of the Ministry for Labor lack of autonomy and resources

• National Commission for Equal Opportunities: staff of the PM ; parties, social partners, experts

Reforms in labour market policies 1980s

• Italian model 1880s high regulation

• Passive labour market policies (income maintenance)

• 1984 - part-time authorized (but highly regulated and not

• First active labour market policies with modest impact include some affermative action measures

Inclusion of PA mesures in LM policies (late 19980s early 1990s)

• 1986incentives for young enterpreneurs in Southern Italy

–Promotion of the employment of the young

–- incentives to SMI for job creation

–Incentives for the employment of women (preferential treatment)

Law 125/1991 affermative action

• Palns for affermative action should be put forward by enterprises . Compulsory for public administration.

• Reform of WPM local eqaulity advisors :» Enforcement equality law» Promotion and projecting of PA measures

» Very modestly founded

1992-2001 Centre-Left Governments The (weak) institutionalization of GEP

• Institutionalization of a policy: policy issue (relatively) stably integrated in the governments’ political agendas

• Specialized agencies (Minister of Equal Opportunities 1996)

• Somewhat higher representation of women in Cabinets

Labour market reforms : a new paradigm?

• From passive to active LMP• Pacchetto Treu liberalization of p-time (yet

still regualated)»Liberalization of temporary work

contracts»Liberalization of work palcement

(private agencies authorized)

• Decentralization of labour market policies devolution to the regions

“flex-security”

• EU emerging paradigm for labour policies : flexsecurity labour market deregulation authorizing easier employing and dismissals

• But assuring income maintenance in the transition between works and measures for re-placement at work

• Right to work and basic income not to the life-long maintenaince of same workplace

The Italian way to “flex-security”

• Flexibility is a 2 pilla strategy : LM liberalization + income maintenance and active measures for work placement (occupabiliy)

• Flexibility was promoted throu LM liberalization by CL governments (1996-2001)

• A measure of basic income (minimum income in view for insertion ) experimented in 1999-2000 but abandoned by later CR governments .

• In Italy only the pillar of flexibility was interoduced

Family work balance• Financial constraints prevent a robust implementation of new

childacre services.

• But law 53/2000 very innovative:– Parental leave for both parents (EU dir.1997) but low compensation

(30% wage for 3 months) prevent sharig between parents– -other forms of leave (ex. for adult education )– Financement for projects of work-life balance of enterprises (company

créches, flexibele working hours , tele-working)– Obligation for local governments to regulate the times of towns (opening

hours for shops and public services etc.) in order to facilitate work life balance

• Implementation -deceiving . Most local governments don’t have the required planning capabilities . Work life balance plans elaborated and presented for financement by a restricted number of regions in the Centre-North

The Governments of Centre Right (2001-2006)

• Further emphasis on flexibility and deregulation p.t. as main solution for w.l. balance for women

• Rethoric of support to families and demography (White Book on the Welfare State 203) but no concrete measure (flat late low sums for newborn children etc.)

• Disempowerment of equality agencies (less resources and authonomy)

The II Prodi Government 2006-08

• A broad agenda for GE and family policies and some reforms

• PIANO NIDI (2007) substantial funding (446 millions euros + 228 millions from local governments: 42% in the Southern regions ) for new services for childcare (target 33%).

• Fund for policies for dependent adults (frail elderly, disabled)

• Protocol on welfare quality of part-time and better WLB reversibility

III Berlusconi cabinet (2008-2011)

• Even stronger rethoric on family model (Minister of the family a conservative catholic)

• But cuts in expenditure for family policy:• PIANO NIDI cancelled only 100 millions euro from the Fund for

Families (halved in 2010);• Fund for social policies reduced at 75,5 millions against 1 billion in

2008• Last measure :Fund for work-life balance policies of 2009, 40

millions distributed to the regions according to regional programs .

• Emphasis on part-time

• Further attacks at the autonomy and resources of WPM

Monti’s Government 2011-13

• Austerity• Cancelled the role of Minister of Equal Opportunity (now

responsabilities to a vice-Minister of Labor and welfare)• Very little room for GE policies:• Re-regulation of some aspects of labor (prevent

dismissals for maternity)• Re-planning of the unspent financements from EU

cohesion policies to allow for increasing childcare facilities in the South .

• Better conceived policies but no room for public spending.

• A new emerging policy discourse : social investment perspective . Women as unvalued potential