Purpose: In this article, the authors study the gender pay-gap (GPG) among graduates in Italy (2011 cohort) who were employed four years after graduation. The authors focus on individuals who are new entering in the labour market or who match a low level of experience with a high level of education.Design/methodology/approach: Aimed at estimating the amount of the differential between male and female average wages, the authors have applied the Oaxaca–Blinder (O–B) decomposition. The results identify the presence of a GPG at the very beginning of graduates’ careers given that, shortly after graduation, women receive lower salaries than men, even after controlling for several characteristics (individual, academic, job and local labour market). The authors completed the analysis with the reweighted O–B decomposition using the recentered influence function (RIF) and the Juhn, Murphy and Pierce and Machado and Mata decomposition approaches.Findings: The results show that the GPG is already present at the very beginning of graduates’ careers, and it increases when correcting for women’s lower level of participation in the labour market. The authors also identified sticky floor and the glass ceiling effects due to the existence of a relevant high GPG both at the bottom and the top of the graduates’ wage distribution.Originality/value: By focussing attention particularly on graduates, this paper adds to the existing literature a deeper understanding not only of individuals who have recently entered the labour market, but also those who are highly skilled but have little on-the-job experience. In fact, the authors are looking at a particular sample (graduates who are all transitioning from university to work during the same period) with small heterogeneity which allows the authors to compare very similar young men and women graduates and gain a deeper understanding of GPGs in early careers while controlling for confounding and hidden sources of variability.

The accelerated growth of older adults (the over-65s) in Italy fits within the context of the complex, hybrid nature of the pension system and the welfare benefits financed by tax revenues, which often overlap. As a result, older adults are experiencing growing inequalities in living and health conditions across the three Italian macro-areas (the North, Centre, and South and Islands), as well as between genders. This study aims to examine the sustained growth of older adults in Italy, with a particular emphasis on their most vulnerable segment—i.e., the over-85s. Drawing on mortality trends and the consequent increases in life expectancy at advanced ages, through indicators of mortality and life expectancy, the analysis explores how variations in the structure and distribution of pension benefits have produced significant territorial disparities. These disparities have, in turn, contributed to widening inequalities in household living conditions, especially regarding access to social assistance and long-term care services.

Literature on migrants’ fertility intentions has grown significantly in recent years. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies has investigated the role that the combination of partners’ nationalities may play in individual’s intentions to have a(another) child. Filling this gap is particularly relevant for research because fertility behaviors tend to vary greatly according to the type of couple and fertility intentions have been identified as good predictors of future fertility behaviors. The central aim of this paper is to fill this gap unravelling and quantifying the influence of the selection, socialization and adaptation hypotheses in positive and certain fertility intentions of women in mixed (foreign woman-Italian man) and endogamous couples (Italian woman-Italian man, foreign woman-foreign man). Our results point out to migrant selectivity as a potential explanation for differences on fertility intentions between foreign women partnered to Italian men and foreign women partnered to foreign men. We also find support for adaptation observing that childbearing intentions of foreign women partnered to Italian men better resemble those of Italian women partnered to Italian men. However, there is a gradient on the explanatory power of the adaptation hypothesis according to the nationality of the foreign woman.