From the “typical” to the “atypical” works, from the low fertility to the late fertility

Silvana Salvini, University of Florence
Irene Ferro, University of Florence

In this paper we focussed on the consequences of labour flexibility on the life cycle choices in Italy. The costs that instability has at individual level clearly emerge both from Italian and Tuscany surveys. The relations between working pattern and family choices seem well defined, so as the consequences of working flexibility on the phases and the “timing” of transition to adulthood. In the Italian survey the crucial role of the educative curriculum in the delay of building family emerges, such as the gender differences. Also the contractual form has a significant role: the probability to enter into a partnership is lower for people having an atypical work than for people occupied in a traditional one. Using a life course approach through Proportional Hazard Models, for the younger cohort, the crucial role of education in the delay of building family emerges. The variable “gender” seems very significant, with the women who present a greater chance to the entry in marriage or union. Also the contractual form has a significant role: the probability to enter into a partnership is 50% lower for people having an atypical work than for people occupied in a traditional one. These preliminary results have suggested to deepen the “atypical workers world”, using the survey carried out in Tuscany. For 51% of those who live out of the parental home, fertility projects are conditioned by the type of contract and percentage increases to the 71% for those living with parents. Obviously, results are dependent from age and marital status structures of the groups. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that for the generation born in 1965-1969, median age to the first birth is around 32 years, while a further delay is found in the younger generation, born in the years 1970-1979.