He lives in the North, has a stable employment contract and an income between 28,000 and 50,000 euros. This is the portrait of the father who takes advantage of the paternity leave in Italy – widespread today by INPS and Save the Childrenin view of Father’s Day. The picture emerges from the INPS elaboration on the data of its archives.
Although in the load of care of children, a strong imbalance remains among the genres, with evident repercussions on the participation of women in the labor market, in the universe of fathers something is changing, even if slowly.
“On the fatherhood leave we record a positive trend that highlights a cultural change in progress. However, about 35% of the fathers who are entitled still does not use it, it is a measure on which we will make further awareness initiatives. Promote the fatherhood leave produces concrete effects: it promotes an early bond between father and son, with lasting benefits on their relationship, and contributes to a more balanced distribution of family responsibilities. and the life-work of women of women. Gabriele Fava.
Introduced in Italy in 2012, the paternity leave, which aims to encourage the sharing of the care and the link between fathers and children, has gradually stretched to the current 10 days. Its use has also grown over time, passing from 19.2% of the fathers entitled in 2013 to 64, 5% in 2023, a growth that was more marked in the early years and more contained in the last, with a difference of only 0.5 percentage points between 2023 and 2022. There are therefore more than 3 fathers out of 5 to use it, but with significant differences that depend both on the territory where it resides and the company, from the type of working contract.
“Despite the positive signals that the data on the use of paternity leave show us, there is still a lot to do to encourage an equity sharing of the care between mothers and fathers. Yet, shared parenting improves the well -being of boys and girls and protects their fundamental right to a peaceful growth in a protected emotional and educational context. In this sense, it is essential to invest in strengthening this measure for all workers, not only those dependent. Furthermore, a longer leave would contribute to the balance between parental responsibility, promoting a more equal vision between men and women and promoting the consolidation of cultural models free from gender stereotypes, “he underlined Daniela Fatarella, General director of Save the Children, the international organization that for over 100 years struggle to save boys and girls at risk and guarantee them a future.
The fathers who have an indefinite employment contract (about 70%), in the face of those who have a fixed -term time (40%) or those with fixed -term contracts, such as seasonal (20%) are used more to use more.
The highest use rate is observed between the fathers who have an income between 28,000 and 50,000 euros (83%), while it falls slightly among those who have an annual income of more than 50 thousand euros (80%). Among the lowest income, it drops further, reaching 66% among those who have an income between 15,000 and 28.00 euros per year.
The corporate dimension also seems to influence the use of paternity leave: the percentage of fathers that resort to this tool is in fact double among those who work in companies with more than 100 employees (80%), compared to those who work in companies with less than 15 employees (40%).
The use of paternity leave from north to south
The use of paternity leave is not homogeneous on the national territory. In the North, it is used by 76% of the entitled Fathers, an almost double percentage compared to that observed in the South and in the islands (44%), while in the center 67% of them use it. At the regional level, its use goes from the lowest percentage of the Calabria region to the highest one in the Veneto region.
In the norththe regions all present equal use rates equal to or greater than 70%(Veneto 79%, Friuli Venice-Julia 78%, Emilia-Romagna 76.5%, Lombardy 76.4%, Trentino AA 75.9%, Piedmont 74.6%, Valle d’Aosta 70%), with the exception of Liguria which records 64.3%.
In the center Lazio is the region that marks the lowest rate (63.2%), while Umbria (73.7%), Marche (71.6%) and Tuscany (70.8%) have percentages close to those of the northern regions.
In the South and in the islandsthe use of paternity leave exceeds 50%in Abruzzo (64.9%), Sardinia (58.1%), Basilicata (56.5%), Molise (54.1%), Puglia (51%), while much lower rates are observed in Sicily (39.4%), Campania (39.1%) and Calabria, with the latter tail light (35.1%).