Health, employment, quality of work and money: a regional perspective on gender disparities in Italy

This study aimsto investigate the gender disparities in the Domain Work and Money, considering three sub-domains: Employment, Quality of Work and Money, analysing regional trends in Italy before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we investigated the gender disparities in the Domain using both Istat and INPS data sources. For the Domain, a set of 13 simple indicators, both objective and subjective, more closely related to work well-being and divided by sub-domain, wasselected. The analysis covered 5 years (2018–2022), spanning both the pre-and post-COVID-19 periods. The analyses were carried out with a model based on the use of multivariate analysis techniques and the construction of synthetic indices, one for each sub-domain, capable of provide a comprehensive overview, that would not emerge from individual indicators alone. Thesynthetic indexwasnamed Gender Equality Regional Index (GERI).The results revealed that the regions showed different behaviour over the years and different reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, with important spatial patterns.