Abstract
The Italian welfare regime has never attempted to develop a coherent, comprehensive child-care policy. In fact, in the debates on the design, expansion and redesign of the various welfare state arrangements, child-care services — like social services in general — remained marginal. The lack of interest corresponded to the absence of any explicit family policy on the political agenda during most of the twentieth century. According to a general consensus, parents were responsible for the care and upbringing of children, and the state was not to interfere with this private sphere. Mothers were the main care providers, and the state stepped in only when children were deemed to be at risk. As a result of this cultural attitude, strongly influenced by the Catholic Church, it was generally accepted that child-care needs had to be met largely by and within the family. Care provision as an institutional social service is therefore still very low on average as compared with other European countries. The reliance on intrafamily care and informal arrangements (involving in particular grandmothers), the scarcity of public child care, and the low employment rate of women make Italy a typical example of what might be termed a ‘familist’ welfare regime.
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© 2009 Eva Maria Hohnerlein
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Hohnerlein, E.M. (2009). The Paradox of Public Preschools in a Familist Welfare Regime: the Italian Case. In: Scheiwe, K., Willekens, H. (eds) Childcare and Preschool Development in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230232778_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230232778_6
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