Is it “Good” to Have a Stay-at-Home Mom? Parental Childcare Time and Work–Family Arrangements in Italy, 1988–2014

This article investigates whether there are childcare penalties and premiums at the intersection of gender, work-family arrangements and education among parents in Italy, a country with a familistic welfare state and a traditional division of labor within couples. The results indicate that children in male breadwinner households are not exposed to more childcare time than those living in a dual earner arrangement, except when both parents are highly educated, in which case a childcare premium emerges. The implications for social inequalities are discussed in light of the societal transformations that have occurred in the country over the past few decades.