Abstract

Stemming from a comparison with 10 European cities carried out in the Flows project (Impact of local welfare systems on female labour force participation and social cohesion), the article investigates the endurance of the Bologna model of support to women's employment in face of the structural changes of the last two decades and the present recession and austerity period. The article asks what the effects of post-industrial transition on the female participation to the local labour market have been and how the local welfare system has answered to new family-work reconciliation needs, in presence of stricter budget constraints.