Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Women employees – Italy »

This work aims to estimate the probability of bankruptcy of female entrepreneurs in Italy, particularly in the Campania region. Women who run businesses always continue to be disregarded by banks when applying for a loan due to several problems including: the small size of their companies and the low number of employees. The companies were selected by Aida. Through the T-test the probability of bankruptcy of male and female companies was compared, however, the variables that have the greatest impact on gender were examined with the regression model. It was found that, albeit slightly, female entrepreneurs have a lower probability of failure than their male counterparts.

The COVID-19 outbreak has taken a heavy toll on the mental well-being of healthcare workers. This study aims to describe a psychological screening program developed at a large University Hospital in Milan, Italy, and assess the psychological outcomes of employees and associated factors. A survey was electronically conducted among hospital employees between July and October 2020. Sociodemographic data, information about COVID-19 experience and three scales assessing anxiety (STAI-Y1), depression (HAM-D) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PCL-5) were collected. A total of 308 employees (80% women; mean age 45.1 years) responded: 16% physicians, 68% other healthcare professionals, and 16% administrative staff. Employees reported moderate/severe symptoms of anxiety (23%), depression (53%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (40%). At multivariate logistic regression analysis, having suffered a loss for COVID-19 in the personal context was independently associated with higher risk of moderate/severe anxiety (OR = 2.40; 95% CI 1.16–4.98), being female was associated with higher risk of moderate/severe depression (OR = 2.82; 95% CI 1.43–5.59), and having had a family member affected by COVID-19 was associated with higher risk of moderate/severe post-traumatic stress disorder (OR = 2.75; 95% CI 1.01–7.48). COVID-19 personal experience may have a profound impact on hospital workers’ mental health and should be considered in supportive interventions.

Purpose Female entrepreneurship has been part of the political agenda internationally. Public entities should promote entrepreneurship in general, and female entrepreneurship in particular, with dedicated resources and programs. Female entrepreneurs are considered a key asset for developing economic growth. However, women experience much more difficulties than men in opening their own ventures. Relational capital is particularly relevant when it comes to female entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that affect the opening of new ventures and the role of relational capital in female entrepreneurship, taking into consideration the Italian context during the financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a mixed-method approach analyzing data from a regional program to enhance the creation of new companies, trying to understand the issues of potential entrepreneurs in general and women in particular. A single case is then investigated using the characteristics – ambience – organization – sustainability model of micro-entrepreneurship and the network relationship model by Paoloni (2011). Findings The analysis highlights how women face much more difficulties in starting new ventures concerning their previous experience if their employment condition finds an extended period of inactivity. Additionally, potential female entrepreneurs are more sensitive to the complexity of the initiative, concerning the required investment and the number of employees, compared to male entrepreneurs. Relational capital is a crucial asset in fostering the success of the venture, especially in the start-up phase. Originality/value The purpose of the study is to contribute to the debate regarding the issues affecting the opening of new companies, as well as the link between relational capital and female enterprises. The paper offers some insights about a program covering a well-sized population during the financial crisis.

Young workers are in particular need of occupational safety and health (OSH) services, but it is unclear whether they have the necessary access to such services. We compared young with older workers in terms of the access to and awareness of OSH services, and examined if differences in employment conditions accounted for age-differences. We used survey data from Italy (INSuLA 1, 2014), with a sample of 8000 employed men and women aged 19 to 65 years, including 732 young workers aged under 30 years. Six questions measured access to services, and five questions assessed awareness of different OSH issues. Several employment conditions were included. Analyses revealed that young workers had less access and a lower awareness of OSH issues compared with older workers. For instance, odds ratios (OR) suggest that young workers had a 1.44 times higher likelihood [95%—confidence interval 1.21–1.70] of having no access to an occupational physician, and were more likely (2.22 [1.39–3.38]) to be unaware of legal OSH frameworks. Adjustment for selected employment conditions (company size, temporary contract) substantially reduced OR’s, indicating that these conditions contribute to differences between older and younger workers. We conclude that OSH management should pay particular attention to young workers in general and, to young workers in precarious employment, and working in small companies in particular.

ObjectivesTo assess the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG among health careworkers (HCWs) in our university hospital and verify the risk of acquiring the infection according to work area.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingMonocentric, Italian, third-level university hospital.ParticipantsAll the employees of the hospital on a voluntary base, for a total of 4055 participants among 4572 HCWs (88.7%).Primary and secondary outcome measuresNumber of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology according to working area. Association of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology to selected variables (age, gender, country of origin, body mass index, smoking, symptoms and contact with confirmed cases).ResultsFrom 27 April 2020 to 12 June 2020, 4055 HCWs were tested and 309 (7.6%) had a serological positive test. No relevant difference was found between men and women (8.3% vs 7.3%, p=0.3), whereas a higher prevalence was observed among foreign-born workers (27/186, 14.5%, p<0.001), employees younger than 30 (64/668, 9.6%, p=0.02) or older than 60 years (38/383, 9.9%, p=0.02) and among healthcare assistants (40/320, 12.5%, p=0.06). Working as frontline HCWs was not associated with an increased frequency of positive serology (p=0.42). A positive association was found with presence and number of symptoms (p<0.001). The symptoms most frequently associated with a positive serology were taste and smell alterations (OR 4.62, 95% CI: 2.99 to 7.15) and fever (OR 4.37, 95% CI: 3.11 to 6.13). No symptoms were reported in 84/309 (27.2%) HCWs with positive IgG levels. Declared exposure to a suspected/confirmed case was more frequently associated (p<0.001) with positive serology when the contact was a family member (19/94, 20.2%) than a patient or colleague (78/888, 8.8%).ConclusionsSARS-CoV-2 infection occurred undetected in a large fraction of HCWs and it was not associated with working in COVID-19 frontline areas. Beyond the hospital setting, exposure within the community represents an additional source of infection for HCWs.

Despite the numerous advances made in Italy over the years in the study of sexual harassment in the workplace (SHW), research has focused exclusively on victims, perpetrators, and their relationships, and not on the consequences that the experience of sexual harassment can produce in witnesses. The present study aims to address this gap by examining how the indirect experience of SHW, in conjunction with variables such as gender, age, self-efficacy, and coping strategies, affects the mental health status of witnesses of SHW. A sample of 724 employees completed a questionnaire that included a modified version of the Sexual Experience Questionnaire (SEQ), the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale (RESE). Of the group, 321 participants reported witnessing sexual harassment in the workplace (28.2% of women and 16.2% of men). Results show that witnesses were younger than participants who described themselves as non-witnesses. Results also show that women and men who were witnesses were more likely to suffer the emotional and psychological consequences of the experience than non-witnesses. In addition, female witnesses expressed more positive emotions than men, which enabled them to manage their anxiety and emotional states when triggered in response to sexual harassment in the workplace. Finally, a significant association was found between perceptions of mental health and age, gender, experience with SHW, and self-efficacy strategies. The findings underscore the importance of sexual harassment intervention in the workplace, women and men who witness sexual harassment suffer vicarious experiences, psychological impact, exhaustion, disengagement, and negative feelings.

This study contributes to the validation of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) in the Italian context, with a focus on measurement invariance across gender and managerial status. The BWAS is a consolidated measure of work addiction (WA) anchored in general addiction theory that comprises seven items representing the core addiction components. Participants were 8419 bank workers (37.7% women, 12.9% managers) who completed a self-report questionnaire including the Italian version of the BWAS (BWAS-I) and the Dutch Work Addiction Scale, as well as measures of work engagement, perfectionism, workload, psycho-physical symptoms, work–family conflict, and job satisfaction. Results confirmed the single-factor structure of the BWAS-I. Partial scalar invariance held across gender and managerial status, meaning that most—but not all—item intercepts were equivalent across different populations. Furthermore, the BWAS-I showed adequate convergent, discriminant, criterion-related, and incremental validity. This study showed that the BWAS-I is a valuable instrument that can be used by researchers and practitioners to assess WA in the Italian context.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of labour market flows over the business cycle through a vacancy chain model. It provides a direct computation of vacancy chains using micro data, empirically investigates the relationship between chain length and the characteristics of jobs and workers initiating the chain, and finally assesses the wage progression of workers moving along the chain. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a longitudinal matched employer-employee database covering all employees in manufacturing in a large region of Italy. A transparent algorithm for vacancy chain computation is developed and standard econometric techniques are employed to analyze job-to-job transitions within identified chains. Findings – Vacancy chains account on average for more than one-third of total hires, and both the number and the length of chains are clearly pro-cyclical. Chains set in motion by women workers, young, old, blue collars, or employed by small firms tend to be shorter. There is a well-defined wage progression from the tail to the head of the chain, revealing that workers are sorted along chains according to skill and/or bargaining power. Research limitations/implications – There is a limited possibility of identifying separately individual ability and bargaining power. Practical implications – The vacancy chain methodology can increase the ability of policy makers to produce detailed maps of the labour market and identify worker profiles associated with poor outcomes and hence deserving special attention. Originality/value – For the first time, this paper operationalizes the vacancy chain approach on a large scale, at a very high level of detail, and over a long-time span.

The article analyzes the legal regulation for the denunciation of the conventions of the International Labour Organization. Both automatic and "pure" denunciations of conventions are examined. Ratified ILO conventions have traditionally been one of the key sources of national labour law. However, over time, some of them have lost their relevance and practical importance. The most common way to waive obligations under ratified conventions is to denounce them. Denunciation is provided for in every ILO convention, with the exception of Conventions Nos. 80 and 116, which contain rules relating to the partial revision of previous conventions. In addition, a mechanism for partial denunciation is provided for certain conventions. Such a mechanism is expressed in the possibility of denunciation of: a) certain sections of the Convention, e.g. Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967 (No. 128); b) certain categories covered by the scope of the convention, e.g. Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148). It is determined that most denunciations of ILO conventions occur automatically, due to the country's ratification of more recent conventions. In Ukraine, all denunciation of ILO conventions took place automatically. The "pure" denunciations are more relevant to outdated conventions or conventions that no longer correspond to existing fundamental principles in the world of work. An example is Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89), which was denounced by Austria, Greece, Italy, Ireland, France, the Czech Republic, etc. The provisions of this Convention are no longer in line with the ILO's existing policy of equal rights and opportunities for men and women in world of work. The practice of denouncing up-to-date ILO conventions should not be called widespread, primarily due to the need for mandatory prior tripartite consultations on this issue, which involves comprehensive consideration of the interests of government, employees and employers. Ratification by the country of the ILO conventions puts national labour legislation in a fairly clear framework, which in some cases may serve as a reason for slowing down specific areas of its further development. After all, certain conventions were adopted at a time when completely different regulatory approaches in the world of work were applied than those that exist today. Resolving this issue is possible through the timely and balanced application of the denunciation procedure. This procedure, provided for in almost all ILO conventions, should be considered as a clear example of the harmonious evolution of international labour standards. Keywords: International Labour Organization, conventions, automatic denunciation, "pure" denunciation, ratification, national legislation.

Cette thèse se propose d’explorer un argument peu connu dans la littérature sociologique italienne, c’est-à-dire le travail des femmes Marocaines en Italie, en particulier en Sardaigne et en Toscane.Ces femmes sont aux marges de l’intérêt scientifique qui est concentré sur les étrangères « primomigrantes » arrivées pour travailler, parce que l'emploi est vu comme un indicateur d’intégration et d’émancipation féminin. Au contraire, la condition de femmes regroupées des Marocaines porte à accentuer l’image de femmes au foyer pour culture et tradition, donc soumises à l'homme et peu intégrées dans la société locale. Mais, si d’un côté est vrai que ces femmes sont arrivées en Italie surtout pour regroupement familial et qu’elles sont peu présentes dans le marché de l’emploi italien, d’un autre côté leur plus grande participation au travail dans d’autres nations met en doute que la situation en Italie soit due à des facteurs exclusivement culturels. Il est donc possible donner une image plus large de celle de « femme au foyer » comme une femme passive. Dans ce travail on explore, ainsi, le rapport entre les Marocaines et le travail, quels sont les effets et l’interprétation de l’emploi féminin dans la relation avec l’homme et dans la construction même de l’identité de la femme. On verra donc si le travail pour les Marocaines en Italie est un moyen pour modifier le modèle traditionnel familial et le rôle à l’intérieur du couple
This work aims to get deeper into a topic not so well known in the Italian Sociology, in other words it aims to get an insight into the Moroccan Women's Job market strictly related to both Sardinia and Tuscany regions. Since a long time scientific studies neglected women focusing only on foreigner breadwinners who move looking for work. This because work has always been considered such as both an indicator for integration and women emancipation. On the contrary , the condition of Moroccan women tends to enhance the image of housewives tipically showed by culture and traditions, thus it shows women subdued to men and poorly integrated into local society. But if one side is true that these women arrived in Italy especially for family reunification and just few of them are active part of the Italian Job market, on the other hand their greater participation in the international job market doubts that the situation in Italy is due to purely cultural factors. Thus, it is possible to give a wider image than a poor label such as "Housewife" given to these women. Furthermore, this work explores the link between women and the Job Market and effects it can produce, but also the interpretation of women's work related both men and the construction of woman's identity itself. It will show finally if the work for Moroccan women in Italy is the best model in order to change the familiar traditional one and the role inside a couple

Examining board: Prof. Richard Breen (Nuffield College, Oxford, and foremr EUI, Supervisor) ; Prof.Chaira Saraceno (Università degli Studi di Torino, Co-supervisor) ; Prof. Colin Crouch (Warwick Business School and EUI) ; Prof. Antonio Schizzerotto (Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca)
Defence date: 15 April 2005
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017
Over the last fifty years women's employment has increased markedly throughout developed countries. Women of younger generations are much more likely than their mothers and grandmothers to enter the labour market and stay in it after they marry and have children. Are these changes due only to changes in women's investments and preferences, or also to the opportunities and constraints within which women form their choices? Have women with higher and lower educational and occupational profiles combined family responsibilities with paid work differently? And have their divisions changed? With an innovative approach, this dissertation compares Italy and Great Britain, investigating transformations in women's transitions in and out of paid work across four subsequent birth cohorts, from the time they leave full-time education up to their 40s. It provides a comprehensive discussion of demographic, economic and sociological theories and contains large amounts of information on changes over time in the two countries, both in women's work histories and in the economic, institutional and cultural context in which they are embedded. By comparing across both space and time, the book makes it possible to see how different institutional and normative configurations shape women's life courses, contributing to help or hinder the work-family reconciliation and to reduce or reinforce inequalities. Women in and Out of Paid Work will be valuable reading for students, academics, professionals, policy makers and anyone interested in women's studies, work-family reconciliation, gender and class inequalities, social policy and sociology.

Niniejsza praca analizuje sytuację mołdawskich kobiet zatrudnionych w sektorze pracy domowej we Włoszech. Odpowiada ona na pytanie, jaki jest „dobrostan w zakresie czasu” (jakość czasu) w doświadczeniu osób o niepewnej sytuacji zawodowej i przedłużającej się tymczasowości. Podczas gdy dotychczasowe badania ujmowały migrację głównie jako wydarzenie w wymiarze przestrzennym, ja koncentruję się na wymiarze temporalnym migracji i wzajemnie powiązanych cechach czasu, proponując nowatorskie temporalne podejście do migracji. Aby zbadać temporalny wymiar doświadczenia migrantów, wykorzystuję ramę koncepcyjną uwzględniającą procesualność, jakość czasu i orientację czasową migrantów. W celu zbadania kwestii doświadczania czasu przez migrantów, przeprowadziłam badania etnograficzne wśród Mołdawian, przede wszystkim kobiet, zatrudnionych w sektorze pracy domowej w kilku włoskich miastach. W sumie spędziłam w terenie 5 miesięcy i przeprowadziłam 45 wywiadów pogłębionych z mołdawskimi migrantami. Pierwszy rozdział odnosi się do dwóch obszarów badań, do tej pory rzadko łączonych w literaturze: badań nad czasem oraz studiów migracyjnych. W rozdziale zaprezentowane są ramy teoretyczne niniejszej pracy. Drugi rozdział omawia aspekty metodologiczne rozprawy oraz metodę etnograficzną w odniesieniu do badania temporalności migrantów. Trzeci rozdział analizuje pionierską migrację z Mołdawii do Włoch po 2000 roku i zwraca uwagę na premigracyjny etap rzadko opisywany w literaturze. Jest to faza poprzedzająca migrację, często długi okres, w którym przygotowania migrantów polegają zarówno na konkretnych działaniach umożliwiających wyjazd, jak i na emocjonalnym oswajaniu się z perspektywą wyjazdu. Czwarty rozdział poświęcony jest dobrostanowi temporalnemu (przez który rozumiem jakość czasu pracy i czasu wolnego) migrantek zamieszkujących u pracodawcy. Ten rodzaj pracy charakteryzuje się szczególnymi cechami, wynikającymi z połączenia przestrzeni pracy z przestrzenią życiową, bycia zawsze w gotowości do pracy, podległego statusu migranta, powtarzających się zadań, niekończącej się ilości pracy lub rozmytymi granicami pracy podlegającymi negocjacji. Piąty rozdział, ujmując separację jako koncepcję czasową, analizuje różne temporalności, których doświadczają rodziny transnarodowe. W rozdziale stawiam pytanie o to, w jaki sposób można zrekompensować brak podzielania przestrzeni i zsynchronizować codzienną rodzinną rutynę oraz badam, w jaki sposób rodziny transnarodowe renegocjują związki i macierzyństwo ponad granicami, utrzymują więź lub redefiniują ją. W rozdziale szóstym analizuję, w jaki sposób migrantki współwytwarzają, doświadczają i nadają sens przedłużającej się tymczasowości. Wreszcie, w siódmym rozdziale badam, w jaki sposób migrantki waloryzują czas i egzystencjalnie lokalizują swoją sytuację życiową, gdy znajdują się w niepewnej sytuacji (w tym przypadku: społecznie stygmatyzowana praca, nietrwałe miejsce zamieszkania, niepewne perspektywy). Opierając się na zebranych danych, zidentyfikowałam cztery główne orientacje czasowe w kontekście prekarnych sytuacji życiowych. Podsumowując, praca ta stanowi zarówno wkład teoretyczny, jak i empiryczny do badań nad migracjami z perspektywy temporalnej. Zastosowane ramy teoretyczne dostarczają nowego wglądu empirycznego w codzienne doświadczenie czasu przez migrantów, tego jak realizują swoje cele i potrzeby w określonych warunkach społeczno-ekonomicznych, a także tego, jak planują i wyobrażają sobie przyszłość. Głównym wkładem rozprawy jest zwrócenie uwagi na wielowymiarowy temporalny aspekt migracji na przykładzie migracji z Mołdawii do Włoch. Podkreślona jest tu waga nie tylko samego procesu migracji, ale także poziom przeżywanego doświadczenia, codziennego życia, pracy, spraw rodzinnych i osobistych (a także „pracy nad czasem” potrzebnej do „żonglowania” różnymi sferami życia). Ponadto, praca bada jak zachowanie migranta związane jest z wpływem krótko- lub długoterminowej perspektywy czasowej.
In this thesis, by using the case of the Moldovan women employed in the domestic work sector in Italy, I analyse how individuals with precarious jobs experience time welfare (qualities of time) and prolonged temporariness. While previous studies have treated migration primarily as a spatial event, I focus on its underlying, intertwined time features by putting forward a customized temporal approach. To that end, I propose a threefold conceptual framework to examine migrant temporalities, by looking at processuality, time qualities and future making (orientation). The qualitative data analysis draws on a five-month ethnographic fieldwork among women employed in the domestic work sector in a few Italian cities and 45 in-depth interviews with Moldovan migrants in Italy. The first chapter examines the intersection of two fields of study, rarely conjoined so far: time scholarship and migration studies and presents a theoretical framework for the undertaken research. The second chapter discusses the methodological aspects and inspects ethnographic avenues to study migrant temporalities. The third chapter examines the pioneer Moldovan migration to Italy in the early 2000s and points to the overlooked phase in the migration process, the often lengthy stage which precedes arrival in which leaving is prepared both as a set of practices but also as an emotional work stage of deliberation and preparation. The fourth chapter addresses the time welfare (by which I mean the qualities of working and leisure time) of live-in migrant domestic workers. I show how this type of work, is marked by particular time qualities, derived from the conflation of workspace with living space, ever-availability, rather subordinate status, repetitive tasks, never-ending amount of work, or fragile borders open to negotiations. The fifth chapter scrutinizes the multiple temporalities experienced by transnational families through the lens of separation as a temporal concept. It asks what are the ways to compensate for lack of shared physicality (in space) and to synchronize everyday family routine (in time), and inspects the ways transnational families renegotiate life as a couple and motherhood across borders, maintain togetherness or redefine it, keep in touch and re-synchronize daily routines. In the sixth chapter, I examine how temporary labour migrants co-produce, experience and make sense of prolonged temporariness. Finally, in the seventh chapter, I explore the ways one valorizes time and existentially localize their life situation when they find themselves in a precarious status (in this case: socially stigmatized job, short term living, uncertain prospects). Drawing from the data that I collected, I have identified (at least) four main time valuations of precarious life situations. All in all, this thesis contributes both theoretically and empirically to develop temporally-informed migration studies. It first has the theoretical merit of conjoining migration studies with sociological concepts of time in order to apply a temporal lens to a specific case of labour migration, such as time work (Flaherty 2003), temporal welfare (inspired from Rice et al. 2006) or permanent temporariness (Griffiths et al. 2013). Thanks to this framework, it produces new empirical insights related to how migrants experience daily qualities of times, act on their aims and needs within a set of socio-economic circumstances, as well as plan and imagine the future. More crucially, the main contribution of this thesis is to shed light on the multilayered temporal nature of migration through a holistic approach to Moldovan migration in Italy, which not only considers the process as such, but goes in depth to look at the lived level of experience, with the everyday life, work, family and personal errands (as well as the time work needed to juggle all these temporal domains) and in addition to that, looking at how migrant conduct is influenced by the short- or long-term outlooks.

AbstractThis chapter presents and characterises the way in which, in the twenty-first century, after years of feminist struggles inside and outside of institutions, gender relations are organised in the different countries of the INCASI project (on the European side, Spain, Italy, Finland, France and the United Kingdom, on the side of the South American Southern Cone, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay). It pays special attention to the implementation of feminist issues on political agendas, and in particular the assignment of women to unpaid care work—an aspect of the power continuum that we look to relate to other aspects. Gradually and for almost a century all countries in both continents have granted women the status of subjects, citizens and employees. However, the conditions, challenges and timelines of this process differ considerably from one continent to another, so they need to be addressed separately. The neoliberal era did not have the same impact in Europe as it did in South America (nor was it exactly the same between particular European countries or among South American ones).

The chapter aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the shift towards a digital business model for the female and male entrepreneur. This shift is analyzed by a ground test theory based on a comparative case study. Two case studies, categorized as small to medium enterprises operating in the creative industry in the city of Turin, Italy, are analyzed against the six dimensions of the business model framework—value proposition, target market, value chain, revenue mechanism, value network, and competitive strategy—and then used as a basis to compare a female and a male digital entrepreneur. As emerged, there is not a remarkable difference between the two entrepreneurs. Both stress the relevance of the digital approach in the aforementioned six dimensions of the digital business model, highlighting the relevance of the “value network” to improve employees' working experience and customers' experience.

Chapter Six demonstrates that connections between Italian consumers in New York and Buenos Aires became particularly politicized with the rise of Fascism in Italy. During the 1935 League of Nations’ boycott against Italy, Benito Mussolini called on migrants to consume for their homeland. Unlike World War I, however, during the boycott migrants used the Italian-language press to debate their patriotic duty as consumers and to form identities and experiences around U.S., Argentine, and Italian goods. Ironically, as Mussolini tried to divorce Italian women from Western-style consumerism at home, Italian-language newspapers abroad—supported economically by Italian fascists—employed links between women and foodstuffs to generate ethnic identities. By the 1930s, Italy, the U.S., and Argentina all competed for the attention of Italian consumers, especially women.

This chapter analyses the cleavages among the insiders and outsiders of different groups of women in Italy and Spain with a particular focus on part-time employment. Given the prevalence of dualisation in Southern European labour markets, people employed in part-time work and non-standard employment are particularly vulnerable to precarious conditions. Only a minority of part-time contracts are voluntarily entered into by women. The authors argue that, in comparison with other European countries, part-time employment in Italy and Spain appears to be a form of implementing external labour market flexibility rather than an instrument created to ease work/family conflicts for women. Using an intersectional analytical approach, the authors show how the distribution of non-standard and involuntary part-time work is unequal among different groups of women, exposing young (in Italy) and low educated (in Spain) women in particular to deteriorated labour market conditions. The situation of disadvantage is magnified when there is a particular combination of lack of education, age and childcare requirements.

This chapter retraces the trajectories of foreign-born men, women, and children driven out of their homelands and directed into French factories and fields by employers and labor recruitment organizations before, during, and after the Great War. It follows immigrants to the two lively melting-pot neighborhoods in Paris where they settled in greatest numbers between the wars and into the Occupation. It also looks at the lived experience of immigrants that observed how gender, marriage, and family that shaped the ways migrants moved through provincial France in search of work. The chapter discusses France's northern, eastern, and southern departments that drew large numbers of seasonal border migrants from Belgium, Italy, and Spain. It refers to migrant laborers that concentrated in mining areas of the Pas-de-Calais region after the war, as well as large city centers like Marseille or Lyon and its industrial peripheries.