Disability and work intensity in Italian households

Elena Calegari,Chiara Mussida,Enrico Fabrizi

doi:10.1007/s11150-021-09559-6

Elena Calegari, Chiara Mussida + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-021-09559-6

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Abstract

The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations clearly sets the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market as a main goal. However, especially in care welfare systems characterized by a low level of social services, disability not only impacts the labour market participation of disabled people themselves but may also affect the labour opportunities of other members of their household. Using EU-SILC data to compute individual work intensity-as a better measure of the actual level of labour attainment-this paper aims to disentangle direct and indirect correlations between disability and labour market participation in Italian households. In confirming the negative direct correlation between disability and labour market participation, the results also show a negative indirect correlation that depends on the family relationship between the disabled person and household members.

Highlights

In setting its sustainable development goals, the United Nations 2030 Agenda devotes special attention to social inclusion, and to the labour market participation of weak categories of workers (United Nations, 2019)
We are aware of the fact that by using only one cross-sectional dataset we cannot interpret our results as causal effects of being a disabled person on work intensity, as issues related to reverse causality and/or unobserved factors cannot be ruled out
We note that the odds ratio for the determinants of work intensity are similar to those estimated for the subsample of households with at least one disabled household member

Summary

Introduction

In setting its sustainable development goals, the United Nations 2030 Agenda devotes special attention to social inclusion, and to the labour market participation of weak categories of workers (United Nations, 2019). An individual’s disability correlates with the work opportunities of the disabled person and with the job market participation of other household members (Nys et al, 2016); this is labelled as the indirect correlation, or cross-correlation, of disability This indirect correlation can either be positive or negative. The presence of the disabled person might lead some other members to dedicate less time to their jobs because of the need for extra time to take care of him/her This negative indirect correlation may be more severe in countries (social contexts) in which care regimes are characterized by a limited development of social services and a strong informal care system, as was traditionally the case in Italy (Da Roit & Sabatinelli, 2013). In the absence of an adequate provision of services for persons with disabilities, care duties may be left to specific members of the household, depending on the family relationship between the disabled person and the worker or on gender (Atkinson et al, 2007; Parodi & Sciulli, 2008; Vinck & Van Lancker, 2020; Wasi et al, 2012)

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