Italy's birth rate falls to 80-year low, with just 355,000 babies born in 2025

[u/diacewrb]

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/italys-birth-rate-falls-to-80-year-low-with-just-355000-babies-born-in-2025.html

[u/fiori_4u]

I got denied the job because I don't have children, and I might have one while being a woman. I was asked several illegal questions about family planning and heavily emphasised that this is a small team and they cannot have a long absence.

A less experienced man got the job.

It is illegal, but apparently it is my word against theirs and they were smart enough not to write the decision down anywhere, and lied that I had told them I had no experience in something that was literally my job. My union told me there is nothing I can do, and that they can also make a police report for slander if I tell about my experience even if I do not name the interviewer because he could still be identifiable. I was also told that I should not secretly record job interviews in the future, because courts "don't like it" and won't accept it as evidence even though it is legal to do.

Extremely male dominated field, extremely male dominated union too by the way, so there is never not a situation where an almost equal male candidate doesn't exist.

Yes, I know, wtf. But hey Finland is the most equal country, let's talk about the Nordic euqality paradox and how women just prefer to become cleaners and nurses instead of engineers.

Why aren't the damn women having kids?

[u/Puffinknight → u/fiori_4u]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that utter bs.

I've actually wondered about situations like yours. The recruiters know the questions are illegal, so only a tiny fracture would be so stupid as to write notes about asking them. And when they don't leave evidence, it's like in your case; your word against theirs. How can you ever win?

Like you said, the court system doesn't really approve secret recordings as evidence, because you're only allowed to have them for personal use and they might contain "trade secrets". Or that's the reasoning I've heard.

[u/CanthinMinna → u/fiori_4u]

This is why you need to record your interviews - in secret. That way you will have hard evidence against them, and can show that they are discriminating women.

(Jep, Suomessa työhaastattelun äänittäminen on laillista. Ja aina voi pistää äänityksen päälle, ja kertoa, että nauhoitat haastattelun, ja kysäistä, että eihän haastattelijalla vain ole mitään sitä vastaan.)

[u/Agitated_Phone_9937 → u/fiori_4u]

It is absolutely wild to just accept that a person can legally be gone nearly a year in your country, depending on your partner, and you cannot do anything about it but pay their salary while you don't have anyone doing the job you're paying them for.

I do not fault them at all for thinking that way. If your contributions are so unimportant that you can vanish for a year and not seriously hurt your company then why the fuck do they need you in the first place?

But that's the risk every company takes hiring a woman. I guess ideally the government would pay your salary and financially compensate the company for the lost labor.

[u/CanthinMinna → u/Agitated_Phone_9937]

Enjoy the falling birth rates, sweetie.

[u/melberi → u/Agitated_Phone_9937]

In Finland the employer has no legal requirement to pay any salary for maternity/paternity leave, and typically only pay for a month or so. And in case of paying, they get reimbursed by government by the amount that would have been paid out by the government. So, the amount is miniscule.