CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Carrozza, Maria Teresa |
|---|---|
| Title | Rethinking Reform: What the AUU Tells Us About Gender, Childcare, and the Italian Welfare System |
| Summary | The introduction in 2022 of the Assegno Unico Universale (Universal Child Allowance) marked a shift for the direction of social policy in Italy… or did it? This thesis investigates whether the Assegno Unico Universale represents a paradigmatic shift in the Italian family policy or merely a technical recalibration within an enduring logic of supported familialism. While the AUU was widely celebrated for its universality, administrative simplification, and its potential to increase female labor market participation, this thesis argues that such optimism is misplaced. Drawing on theoretical frameworks developed by Saraceno (2016) and Hall (1993), the analysis reveals that the AUU does not defamilialise care, decommodify services, or structurally challenge gender inequalities in caregiving. Rather, it reinforces the private responsibility of families, particularly women, for unpaid care work, offering financial transfers instead of substantive institutional reform. |
| Supervisor | Anil Duman |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/carrozza_maria.pdf |
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