Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been increasingly considered as a potential policy tool to indirectly counteract labor market disadvantages. Nevertheless, empirical studies have highlighted that very often ECEC is characterized by territorial and income disparities. This article investigates the combined effects of territorial and income dimensions on the working households’ probability of using 0-2 ECEC services in Italy. More specifically, it answers three interlinked research questions: a) Is the probability of using ECEC in Italy affected by the degree of urbanization? b) Do in-work poor (IWP) families have a lower probability to use ECEC compared to above-average households? And, if this is the case, are IWP households living in non-urban areas penalized regarding the access to ECEC vis-à-vis those living in urban areas? And finally, c) does the combined penalization triggered by the territorial and income dimensions occur in all the Italian macro-areas (Centre-North and South) or can any differences be identified? Relying on 2010-2019 cross-sectional data from EU-SILC, the analysis shows that the territorial and income dimensions – and their combination – are relevant to understand to what extent not only households’ formal but even informal childcare uptake in Italy is characterized by a double penalization.