Following the establishment of the European Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC), the female employment rate in Italy is still ranked the third lowest in the European Union (EU) and Italian women continue to do twice as much household work as Italian men. Parents, especially women, struggle to find a balance between professional work and their family lives in a society that encourages the traditional gendered roles of the housewife and the breadwinner. The following study is a theoretical analysis of the Parental Leave Directive and the potential domestic influences that may prevent Italy from progressing socially towards gender equality. This study looks at the work of feminist authors Joan Williams, Arlie Hochschild, and Vicki Schultz to understand why the implementation of the Parental Leave Directive is simply not enough to generate social change in Italy regarding work-family reconciliation. The findings of the legal analysis in this study show that in order for Italy to move forward in gender equality, policies must be successful in eliminating the underlying political, sociological and cultural factors that perpetuate the traditional gendered family roles that revolve around the masculine norm.
","abstract_html":"<p>Following the establishment of the European Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC), the female employment rate in Italy is still ranked the third lowest in the European Union (EU) and Italian women continue to do twice as much household work as Italian men. Parents, especially women, struggle to find a balance between professional work and their family lives in a society that encourages the traditional gendered roles of the housewife and the breadwinner. The following study is a theoretical analysis of the Parental Leave Directive and the potential domestic influences that may prevent Italy from progressing socially towards gender equality. This study looks at the work of feminist authors Joan Williams, Arlie Hochschild, and Vicki Schultz to understand why the implementation of the Parental Leave Directive is simply not enough to generate social change in Italy regarding work-family reconciliation. The findings of the legal analysis in this study show that in order for Italy to move forward in gender equality, policies must be successful in eliminating the underlying political, sociological and cultural factors that perpetuate the traditional gendered family roles that revolve around the masculine norm. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Orozco, Chrystal"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in International Studies","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"International Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kathleen Kelly Janus"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-14T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-14T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:42:35Z","subjects":["Work-Family Reconciliation","European Union","Italy","Parental Leave Directive","Feminist Legal Theory","Maternity/Parental Leave","European Law","Family Law","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Gender and Sexuality","International and Area Studies","International Law","Law and Gender","Legal Studies","Politics and Social Change","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/46","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kathleen Kelly Janus"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Orozco, Chrystal"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-01-04T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["International Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in International Studies"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Work-Family Reconciliation","European Union","Italy","Parental Leave Directive","Feminist Legal Theory","Maternity/Parental Leave","European Law","Family Law","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Gender and Sexuality","International and Area Studies","International Law","Law and Gender","Legal Studies","Politics and Social Change","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/46"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Following the establishment of the European Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC), the female employment rate in Italy is still ranked the third lowest in the European Union (EU) and Italian women continue to do twice as much household work as Italian men. Parents, especially women, struggle to find a balance between professional work and their family lives in a society that encourages the traditional gendered roles of the housewife and the breadwinner. The following study is a theoretical analysis of the Parental Leave Directive and the potential domestic influences that may prevent Italy from progressing socially towards gender equality. This study looks at the work of feminist authors Joan Williams, Arlie Hochschild, and Vicki Schultz to understand why the implementation of the Parental Leave Directive is simply not enough to generate social change in Italy regarding work-family reconciliation. The findings of the legal analysis in this study show that in order for Italy to move forward in gender equality, policies must be successful in eliminating the underlying political, sociological and cultural factors that perpetuate the traditional gendered family roles that revolve around the masculine norm.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Why EU Work-Family Reconciliation Policies Fail in Italy: A Feminist Legal Analysis"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kathleen Kelly Janus"],"dc:creator":["Orozco, Chrystal"],"dc:date.available":["2013-01-04T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Following the establishment of the European Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC), the female employment rate in Italy is still ranked the third lowest in the European Union (EU) and Italian women continue to do twice as much household work as Italian men. Parents, especially women, struggle to find a balance between professional work and their family lives in a society that encourages the traditional gendered roles of the housewife and the breadwinner. The following study is a theoretical analysis of the Parental Leave Directive and the potential domestic influences that may prevent Italy from progressing socially towards gender equality. This study looks at the work of feminist authors Joan Williams, Arlie Hochschild, and Vicki Schultz to understand why the implementation of the Parental Leave Directive is simply not enough to generate social change in Italy regarding work-family reconciliation. The findings of the legal analysis in this study show that in order for Italy to move forward in gender equality, policies must be successful in eliminating the underlying political, sociological and cultural factors that perpetuate the traditional gendered family roles that revolve around the masculine norm.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/46"],"dc:subject":["Work-Family Reconciliation","European Union","Italy","Parental Leave Directive","Feminist Legal Theory","Maternity/Parental Leave","European Law","Family Law","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Gender and Sexuality","International and Area Studies","International Law","Law and Gender","Legal Studies","Politics and Social Change","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Why EU Work-Family Reconciliation Policies Fail in Italy: A Feminist Legal Analysis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["International Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in International Studies"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:42:35Z"}