Ricerc@Sapienza

Italy is characterised by both a low level of female participation in the labour
market and a low fertility rate. At the same time, many women stay out of the labour
market after the childbirth for a much longer period of time than the compulsory
maternity leave prescribes. This way, they put at risk the possibility of reentering
the labour market after the career break, as well as damage their future
career opportunities. In this paper we use a two-stage estimation process to analyse
the factors that influence the choice of having children first and then the
choice of the period of time to devote to raising them out of the labour market. In
particular, we focus on the role of factors hitherto neglected by the literature, such
as prevailing local social norms and women’s reproductive health. The results
show that economic constraints do not have a strong impact on fertility choices
(which seem to be more influenced by individual preferences and social norms),
but significantly influence the length of the maternity period. The worsening of
women’s reproductive health, also due to the increase in the average age at childbirth,
seems to significantly lengthen the period of time spent out of the labour
market after the childbirth.