Allowances and parental leaves in Italy: an overview for the paediatrician

Key words: Italian Government, Denatality, Maternity Support, Allowances, Parental leaves

Italy is one of the countries in the world with the lowest birth rate. To cope with this phenomenon, at least partly, the Italian Government has enacted a series of provisions in the last few years to favour and protect motherhood. The recently introduced facilitations involve also freelance mothers and fathers as well, who can replace mothers in the childcare. The paper offers an overview of the most recent provisions of the Italian legislation concerning allowances in money and leaves for different types of working parents.