Genitorialità, lavoro e condizioni della conciliazione.

In this paper we deal with the low fertility rate which characterizes Italy by focussing on a district characterized by a level of birth rate similar to the one that characterizes Italy, but with higher than average public child care provisions, higher per capita income and higher women’s employment rates. We analyse the observed factors affecting the gap between the preferred and the realized number of children. The low fertility rate seems not to be the result of a choice, since for at least 45% of the couples who replied to the question on the preferred number of children, the latter is higher than the actual one.