In Italy, the working conditions of mothers reveal a structural gender gap: parenthood reduces women's participation in the workforce while often enhancing men's. Work-family balance remains a central challenge and a primary reason for women's resignations. Achieving a second-order change requires modifying the rules that define the working context, challenging entrenched stereotypes, and fostering a new culture. The first step in this process is to listen attentively to and foreground women's voices through qualitative research.
This study is part of a national project on the well-being, challenges, and needs of working mothers in Italy. Results are based on 1,130 participants who completed an online questionnaire, which included an open-ended question about their perceived needs in their roles as women, mothers, and workers. Six women also participated in in-depth interviews to explore social support, workplace recognition, and fulfillment of needs. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
We identified three main themes from the open-ended responses: Desire for Time and Burden of Judgment, reflecting the need for personal and family time, often accompanied by guilt and social judgment; Professional Recognition and Structural Changes, highlighting calls for equality, fair pay, flexible work arrangements, and parental leave supported by workplace policies fostering work-family balance; and Building Family Support Networks, emphasizing the need for accessible services, psychological support, and collaboration from partners and the community to reduce isolation and inequalities. Interview analysis identified three additional themes: persistence of gender stereotypes and the maternal wall, the need for cultural change, and the strengthening of both service networks and connections among mothers.
In conclusion, as community psychologists, we can work to challenge gender stereotypes affecting working mothers and support local communities in creating stronger resource networks. Addressing these issues requires coordinated action at multiple levels—individual, organizational, and societal—to foster truly transformative change.