The time for women: a case for maternity minimum income | Valeria Filì | TEDxUdine

In developed countries, women live in a temporal dimension that's profoundly different than men, divided as they are between productive work and caring, reproductive work, etween the desire to procreate, the anxiety of being good mothers, the aspiration to realize themselves professionally and being economically independant. More often than not, women are subject to other peoples "times", instead of being protagonist of their own, and finding time for themselves.

On TEDxUdine stage, Valeria Filì proposes therefore a radical recipe
to improve female condition.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format
but independently organized by a local community.

Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

This is the time of women.

Did you notice that?

This is the time of women,
we live in women’s time.

Women are the protagonist of this time:

in the Western world, these days,

women are everywhere.

Women are protagonists in society,
in their work places, in politics,

in public affairs, in arts,
in culture, in science.

Women are protagonists.

All subjects and projects

are now discussed
with womens' perspectives in mind,

the gender impact, the gender perspective,

the effect from the female viewpoint.

Women are then protagonists of this time.

But women aren't just
protagonists of this time:

They are also victims of this time.

Or better, victims of these “times”.

The times of women are unlike mens ones

Women have given up to their time
to donate it to others.

The idea of relativity of time,
taken from theoretical physics

perfectly materializes in womens lives.

Womens' and mens' times are different.

Women are divided
between so many different times:

family time; procreation time;

the time for raising
and taking care of children;

the time for work.

Women are asked really a lot:
to stay in shape,

to address other peoples' times.

If the real rich and happy people
are those who have time,

for themselves and for others,

then women are short of time
for themselves.

They have little time for themselves,
busy as they are to share it with others.

Women are asked time.

If we are to describe the life
of a working woman,

maybe mother of a small child,

what would we think of her life?

What comes to your mind?

We are always in a rush.

Our life is a continuous race,

a rush against time,
an endless fitting in.

We are victims of a failed
reconciling of times,

victims of the hard,

if not impossible, reconciling of times.

We are victims of multitasking.

We are expected to be perfect mothers,

a pillar for the family,

the fulcrum of the traditional family,
and also not so traditional one.

But we're also asked
to be fantastic workers,

competitive with the male colleagues,

to break the crystal barrier
and get to the top.

Women are asked so much.

But they are not given nearly as much.

Women in the modern, western world

find themselves in a difficult situation.

We are in a difficult balance,
often forced into dramatic choices:

give up a part of us,

to the idea of procreation,
or just postponing it,

which can sometimes mean,
to give it up eventually anyway.

And sometimes, conversely,

to sacrifice work, career.

We walk on a thin line.

And we live a personal deep distress.

Women are forced into a dramatic choice,

that men just don’t know.

We are always subject
to a constant pressure,

that we typically experience individually.

But here is the mistake:
it is not an individual problem!

It is a collective problem, actually.

because the individual problem
becomes a collective one

the moment it has a collective impact.

Women are in fact
at the core of the labour market.

Increasing employment in Italy

means increasing female employment.

Female employment is lower than male.

And Italy's female employment
is among the lowest in Europe.

Female rate of employment
is lower than male one.

The rate of female inactivity
is extremely high.

Which means, women have lost their hopes.

What the rate of inactivity signals

is a lack of confidence of women
in the labour market.

It signals that women are discouraged:

either they were excluded
from the job market,

or never entered, and have now
given up looking for it.

A rising rate of inactivity
is indeed a profoundly sad signal.

Increasing Italian rate of employment

means therefore
increasing female employment,

to focus on women and revive their work.

On the other hand,
let's have a look at our country.

This dramatic choices
we're individually forced to make

brought along a negligible birth rate.

Italy's birth-rate is among
the lowest in the world,

way below the rate of substitution.

We are a growthless country:
no jobs and no children.

Too few children, too little work.

There is a short circuit. What can we do?

And now you see
that women's individual drama

has a collective projection,

one that does matter for our country.

It is not that personal.

It's a collective matter,
where State authorities are involved.

It is something
politicians have to deal with.

Politics should focus back on women.

As an expert in labour law,
I will tell you:

there are indeed many protections,
in the labor market.

Labour market offers
many protections for female workers.

But what women
do benefit from protections?

Essentially, only employed women.

Only subordinate work is protected.

But let’s look around:
how is the labor market today?

It is changing.

It is not just subordinate work.

But the labor law

keeps neglecting
a big chunk of female workers:

self-employed, freelancers,
employed with vouchers.

The famous gig-economy

almost torn to shreds
the employment relationship.

Which morphed into many,
many different kinds of work,

and most of them are not protected.

Women are then divided

between a legally protected minority
and other much less so.

But even those who have many protections,

truth be told, often cannot make
their life choices easily,

Why?

Because an excess of protections
inevitably backfires.

Often, they turn into a boomerang.

So it may happen that an employer,

instead of a highly-protected woman,

with all her welfare encumbrances,

would rather hire a man
and get rid of them.

So we have to do something,

change our point of view, our perspective.

We must start from an observation,

women in this country represent
a relevant part of the welfare.

They have replaced public welfare
in a number of situations.

Women take care of both
children and elderly people,

they get where the state fails to get.

Women are a relevant slice of welfare.

So if politician and the state
have to invest on the welfare,

and if women a part of the welfare,

then the state has to invest on women.

Investing of women translates
into pouring money on them,

betting on women,

particularly on younger women,
younger generations,

to change the country and move it forward.

But how to do this?

Let me throw in an idea,
as TED is the right place to do it.

It can be a concrete scheme,
or just a provocation.

But it is feasible.

People speak about minimum wage:

I would provide a minimum maternity income

to the women who give up part of their job

to take care of their children.

Only for a limited time -
maybe until kids are 13 -

they can give up some working hours

and procreate, breeding their children.

A minimum maternity income
that would allow women,

regardless of their contract:

employee, self-employed,
voucher, freelancers, you name it -

a dignity income to relieve women
from this dramatic choice,

and allow them to take a break,

while keeping a foot in the job market,

so they can raise their children.

And raise their children in a way

that is not restricted
to the early years of their life,

because Italian women
have a different culture

than, say, northern European
or American women.

Italian mother wants to be
an Italian mother:

she wants to be there, in her sons' life.

She wants to be present,
a point of reference, a protagonist.

So we need to allow women
to satisfy this need, to make this choice.

A minimum maternity income,

which asks them to stay in the market.

Either with a proper training,

which is an investment for themselves,

and for the future,

to return back to work after the break:

or with a number of working activities,

We have to take what's good

in the gig economy, sharing economy,
collaborative economy,

Their low-ranking jobs,
their humiliating flexibility,

can be turned into a force for good,
if conceived as conciliation tools

that allow women,

shall they decide
to take care of their children

for their first 13 years of life,

to keep a foot in the labor market
and not get compelled out of it,

and then being easily reintroduced
in the cycle of production.

This can be some food for thought.

Next to this, I wish
to add one more thing:

an additional figurative contribution

that makes up for the fiscal shortfalls

of women who sacrifice themselves
for that stage of life.

We also have to consider retirement.

If an additional figurative contribution
is there for wearing jobs,

I would provide it for women too.

The maternal usury stems from
the double, triple workload it entails,

and should possibly be a function
of the number of children.

That would actually be a sound investment,

a useful tool.

A minimum maternity wage,
plus a figurative additional contribution.

Sure, state authorities
would have to pour money,

but it'd also allow women to take a leap.

And the whole country would take a leap,

as we figured out that women
are the key to unlock the system.

Women can increase employment.

Women can increase welfare sustainability.

Women can grow our country’s population.

Of course, such measures
have to undergo a test first.

Where?

Public administrations,
for instance, but not only.

Companies should also get involved,

at least those who take on
this social responsibility,

to give women job opportunities.

Jobs that may be even very flexible,

with incentives to the companies

that decide to support women,

so they stay in touch
with the labour market.

This might be a worthy idea
to take the leap,

to limit female unemployment,

to increase women employment,

to defeat female inactivity,

And to include those women

who decide, for a period of their life,

to devote to their family and kids,

but without giving completely up

to their aspirations of independence,
career progress, emancipation.

And also, this could reboost
our desire for motherhood.

Thank you.

(Applause)