Reconciliation policies for family welfare

Educational services for early childhood represent a key aspect of the policies aimed at promoting the reconciliation between care responsibilities and participation in the labor market. Availability of seats, accessibility in terms of costs, hourly organization and quality, however, are essential determinants of services that vary significantly from country to country, greatly affecting their effectiveness in responding to the needs of reconciliation between work and family. With respect to educational services for children aged from 0 to 6 years, Italy does not offer a very encouraging picture. As it is well known, while with respect to preschool high levels of coverage and a significant territorial homogeneity has been achieved, our country is still suffering from serious delays and remarkable geographical differences in providing services for children under three years of age. This session offers a reflection on the role of services for early childhood as conciliation tools, highlighting both the critical issues and the potentialities in the Italian context in a comparative perspective. In the discussion three main issues will be addressed:
– What does the empirical evidence regarding the impact of services for early childhood on participation in the labor market show?
– Which aspects promote the effectiveness of services for early childhood as conciliation tools?
– What are the main problems in the current context and what prospects are opened for the reform of Educational services for children aged from 0 to 6?

Screening of the documentary video “Social Cohesion Tour 2016”

Ilaria Madama, OCIS and Università degli Studi di Milano

Speakers:

– Manuela Naldini, Università degli Studi di Torino
– Stefano Neri, Università degli Studi di Milano
– Gino Passarini,  Director of Family, Children and Youth Policies Dept., Emilia Romagna Region
– Emmanuele Pavolini, Università degli Studi di Macerata
– Luciana Saccone, Department for Family Policies, MIUR

Facilitator: Rossella Sobrero, President of Koinètica and Università degli Studi di Milano