Three hundred and thirty thousand. That’s how many women company directors under 49 in Italian companies, according to InfoCamere’s 2026 data. 33.7% out of the total number of female directors in Italia and 28% out of the total number of directors in the same age bracket. This is the figure that, more than any other, demonstrates the presence of a double disparity: gender and age.

The under-49 age group typically represents the fertile age for women and often coincides with motherhood. This is a phase of life that generates slowdowns, interruptions or in some cases exit from the world of work. But only for women. Men, in fact, by becoming fathers, experience an increase in career and income, so much so as to speak of a real ‘paternity premium’ (as opposed to the ‘motherhood penalty’). A recognition that, as demonstrated by the Nobel Prize winner for economics, Claudia Goldin, increases with age, especially among university graduates, and that directly affects the pay gap between mothers and fathers.

Read more at: https://en.ilsole24ore.com/art/motherhood-slows-down-female-leadership-AISairqC