The impact of economic recession on family dynamics in Italy: first evidence

Anna Giraldo, Università di Padova
Stefano Mazzuco, Università di Padova

The recent economic recession has brought about several changes in families’ organization; the increasing share of unemployed individuals, and decreasing salaries modified the equilibria within and between families. Since in Southern European countries, especially Italy, family is a sort of social buffer that moderates the consequences of negative economic shocks of individuals we might expect that the effects of the economic crisis on family formation and organization would be higher in that countries. The aim of this work is to describe the trend of family dynamics over time, identifying some changes due to economic recession, and to analyse the association between negative economic shocks (e.g. job loss, entry into poverty, exit from the labour force) and family behaviours (leaving/returning the parental home, having a child, entering in union, union dissolution).