Measures aimed at supporting families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the main measures adopted by the Italian government to support families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The package of measures included the extension of possibilities to take paid or unpaid parental leave, monetary allowances, and incentives to use remote work. These measures are aimed at ensuring safe working conditions and curbing the spread of the virus, supporting family incomes, as well as maintaining overall economic stability, and avoiding mass layoffs and interruptions in the provision of basic services. Thus, extraordinary parental leave is granted to a wider range of people than “standard” leave, and it provides a higher amount of payments with protection during the leave period from dismissals and with the preservation of the workplace. In cases where the use of leave is not possible, as an alternative measure, funds are provided to pay for child care, and they can be paid during the period of annual paid leave, maternity leave, and parental leave, but they are not provided for remote work and suspension from work. One of their most popular tools is the transfer to remote work, which allows you to ensure the continuity of work in a safe environment and guarantee the combination of work with personal life. All these measures make it possible to compensate for the lack of public and private educational and childcare services, as well as to provide economic support to parents.