It’s a question of female participation.
On Tuesday, July 7, I had the honor of speaking at a hearing before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the economic and social effects of the demographic transition, representing UN Women Italy alongside President Darya Majidi.
In my speech, I offered a reflection born from years of research and commitment to the issues of gender equality, innovation, and public policies. When we talk about the demographic transition, we immediately think of birth rates, population aging, migration flows, or welfare sustainability.
Instead, we proposed a different approach: to understand the demographic transition through three closely intertwined levers of participation.
Participation in the workplace.
Female employment is not just a question of equality. It is an economic policy, a human capital policy, and, today more than ever, a demographic policy.
Participation in care.
Care cannot continue to be a predominantly female responsibility. Building co-responsibility means supporting families, strengthening welfare, encouraging birth rates, and unlocking skills and talents that are still too often invisible today.
Participation in innovation.
Artificial intelligence and digital transformation are redefining the future of work and society. If women and men do not participate equally in the design and governance of technologies, we risk transferring the gaps of the present into the future.
True demographic policy is a human capital policy.
From this perspective, it is crucial that Parliament has introduced, alongside the “generational impact assessment,” also the “gender impact assessment.”
I would like to thank the President of the Commission, Elena Bonetti, for this opportunity and Darya Majidi for sharing this important institutional opportunity and for the work we are carrying forward together with the entire UN Women Italy.
