IT
PRESS RELEASE
8 MARCH, INAPP: “ALMOST 1 MILLION 300 THOUSAND INACTIVE WOMEN AVAILABLE TO WORK, A RESOURCE FOR ITALY’S DEMOGRAPHIC WINTER”
Findings from the study ‘The Unsustainable Inactivity. The Lack of Women’s Work in Italy’s Demographic Transition”
Rome, 7 March 2025 – In a country marked by deep territorial disparities in terms of female employment and availability of care and assistance services, almost 1.3 million inactive women would be willing to work under certain conditions. The paper by the National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies (INAPP): The Unsustainable Inactivity. The lack of Women’s Work in Italy’s Demographic Transition examines how bringing inactive women into the workforce could serve as a strategic resource for managing Italy’s demographic transition.
The progressive contraction of the 15-64 age group in a rapidly ageing and low-birth-rate country poses problems for economic growth and the overall sustainability of the welfare system. If the over-65s, currently at 24.3%, reach 34.5% by 2050 and the over-85s increase from 3.8% to 7.2%, while the workforce between 15 and 64 years of age drops from 63.5% to 54.3%, it means that ensuring the sustainability of passive policies during the demographic transition will require investment in increasing the number of working-age individuals in employment, starting with the segments of the population that do not participate, or do not participate sufficiently, in the labour market.
‘In this regard, combatting the persistent inactivity of women must become a priority,’ explained Natale Forlani, President of INAPP, ‘For around 20 years, we have been facing a female inactivity rate of over 40%, a share of resources that, for various reasons, does not work and is permanently placed outside the labour market. However, at this moment, these resources could represent a strategic asset’.
As of 1 January 2024, there are over 7.8 million inactive women in Italy between the ages of 15 and 64 – women who do not have a job, are not actively seeking one, or, if they do engage in job searches, are not immediately available to start working. Of this total, 52.5% have low levels of education, 38.2% have a high school diploma, and 9.2% have a university degree or a higher qualification. However, among these, a portion explicitly declares themselves available to enter the labour market under certain conditions (potential workforce), which could be the object of specific interventions. This group consists of approximately 1.26 million women (16% of the total number of inactive women), and is distributed differently across regions.
The highest number of inactive women is registered in Campania, where 23% of the total number of women are actually available to work, followed by Lombardy with 9.7%, and Sicily, where a quarter of the total number of inactive women are available. The most dynamic regions where, despite a lower number of inactive women, there is a high level of availability for work, include Calabria (25.5%), Basilicata, Molise and Sardinia, where the potential labour force figures stand around 23%. The reasons for these differences in the availability rates are linked both to the age composition of inactive women and to the reasons behind their inactivity.
Number of inactive women (in thousands) in Italy and percentage of those available for work by region, 2023
Source: Inapp elaboration on Istat 2023 data
Why are they inactive?
There are four main reasons why a portion of women, despite being employable, remain inactive: education/training, retirement/age-related reasons, care responsibilities, and discouragement. Excluding the typical reasons related to age, such as education and training for the 15-29 age group with 18%, and retirement or age-related lack of interest, typical of the over 54s, at 23% and 14%, respectively, the main reason for the non-employment among women in core working-age groups is care and family responsibilities. The significance of these factors (affecting 80% of married women) emerges as early as the 25-29 age group and peaks between 30 and 40 years of age, the so-called ‘sandwich generation’, which simultaneously manages multiple care obligations. The “discouragement” factor affects only 5% of cases, peaking among women aged 45-49, for whom entering or re-entering the labour market appears more challenging.
Regional differences in the impact of these four reasons on inactive women available to work show that care responsibilities weigh most heavily in Central and Southern Italy, particularly in Campania, Puglia, Abruzzo, and Sicily. In contrast, in Central and Northern Italy, where retirement is more prevalent, care responsibilities are highest in Veneto. The highest share of discouraged women is found in Campania, Basilicata, and Sicily.
Due to significant territorial differences, personal involvement in care responsibilities is difficult to replace: in Southern Italy, early childhood services coverage rates remain ten percentage points below the national average, and per capita expenditure on local welfare, although growing, is still one third of that of the North-East (Istat).
Percentage incidence of the main reasons for female inactivity POTENTIAL LABOUR FORCE by Region (2023)
Source: Inapp elaboration on Istat FRCL 2023 data
Getting out of inactivity: under what conditions?
Alongside the need for structural interventions that address the causes of female inactivity, the INAPP PLUS survey – a recurring sample survey present in the National Statistical Plan involving a sample of 45,000 individuals aged 18 to 74 – allows us to explore two further factors influencing the availability of inactive women to work.
- In no case are inactive women willing to work ‘for any type of job’. The higher the level of education, the more women seek jobs in line with their skills or with a salary they consider adequate. Among women with and without children, mothers show a greater willingness to compromise.
- A ‘reservation wage’ exists, meaning a minimum wage below which women do not consider the job to be acceptable or convenient for leaving inactivity. Overall, about half of the inactive women available to work would accept a job for a net salary below 1000 euros per month (specifically, 21% up to 600 euros and 27.8% up to 999 euros). A further 18.5% would require 1000 euros, 19.5% between 1001 and 1499 euros and 13.1% 1500 euros or more.
The presence of a reservation wage influencing the decision to enter the workforce demonstrates that, unlike men, women’s labour market participation remains conditioned by an “economic opportunity” evaluation in the context of family care needs, regardless of education level and skills. Furthermore, it remains strongly tied to household income. This situation will only accelerate with demographic transition unless substantial corrective measures are introduced, particularly in terms of integrated or alternative support services.
Inactive women available to work by net monthly salary threshold (%) out of total (2023)
Source: Inapp elaboration on INAPP PLUS 2023 data
Overall, while integrating these potential labour forces is key to expanding the 15-64 age group in the long term, their engagement—unlike unemployed job seekers—must necessarily involve addressing the reasons behind their inactivity. Investing in the development of the non-medical care sector could be a key factor: on one hand, it would facilitate the entry of inactive women into the labour market by addressing the underlying cause of their inactivity; on the other, it would initiate a redesign of local services necessary for an ageing society.
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Working paper n. 136