Quali risorse per la transizione alla genitorialità?

The birth of a child is an event that requires the entire family to redefine the overall arrangement of its equilibriums: it becomes necessary to rethink its organization and to rebalance its relational dynamics. The transition to parenthood can be characterized, therefore, as a particularly delicate moment that must be supported with appropriate measures and social policies. Often, however, this transition is perceived as a cost, both from the family’s point of view as well as from the perspective of the social policies that are called upon to sustain this moment of passage. We can revisit the theme of parenthood using the sociological category of risk, understanding it as the uncertain process of selection of adequate resources to respond to the challenges of a complex society. In this case, the challenge is parental transition and the primary parents’ task is care. To answer this challenge, three crucial resources must be available for families: money, time and services. On the basis of comparative European data and of the analysis of Italian situation, we can try to identify the most family friendly solutions. The variety of the choices families make leads us to claim that the best strategy is surely the one that offers parents the widest freedom of choice between short leaves, long leaves, part‐time work, flexibility, and services: if we channel families’ decisions into mono‐sectorial policies (only leaves vs. only services) or unidirectional policies (short vs. long leaves; public day‐care vs. company day‐care), we cannot guarantee the satisfaction of complex family needs. Moreover, it’s essential to respond to the expectations of quality that constitute the primary criterion on which families base their configuration of the puzzle of care. Finally, we must remember that the most important instrument to meet families’ needs is to give a greater role to families themselves, involving them in the process of planning new services that come closer to the needs they express.