Abstract

In the last fifteen years, a deep increase in women's occupation has occurred in Italy, though still insufficient. However, the increase in number of women's job positions has not been followed by an increase in the quality of the jobs. The expansion of atypical work has led to the polarization stable work vs. precarious work, with a strong penalization for young workers, in general, and young women workers, in particular. Firms' possibility to use atypical work has turned to be a new form of discrimination of young women workers. Mainly, atypical work can be used in order to avoid economic and organizational costs associated with possible maternity. The difficult access to stable work and the inadequacy of atypical works protection have negative consequences on the transition to adult life, particularly with regard to the choice for maternity.