Lo scritto riproduce, con l’aggiunta delle note, la relazione dell’A. al convegno Lavoro, famiglia, welfare, svoltosi presso l’Università Cattolica di Milano il 12 marzo 2012.

Based on the observation that labour law largely benefits from the institution of family, this paper analyses its role in relation to the family; in particular, it investigates if and how labour law, in turn, promotes the family. As in civil law, also in labor law the concept of family changes depending on the objectives pursued by the law, moving from the nuclear family to the extended family, or to a simple common law marriage, also “more uxorio”. In recent years, the traditional identification between pro-family policies and pro-women policies (in particular, maternity policies) has been overcome. This is due mainly to law no. 53 of 2000, which provides protection both in cases of maternity as well as of paternity, and in the event of adoptions; parental leave becomes stronger, as well as other leave granted for serious family reasons, such as to provide assistance to relatives suffering from clinical diseases. Law no. 53 of 2000 also provides incentives in order to reconcile work and family life through policies of flexible working time (such as part-time, flexi-time and telework).Normative and cultural reasons are the cause of the poor contribution of working fathers to family responsibilities, which, in turn, has reduced the participation of women in the labour market (which, as demographic studies show, has a negative impact on birth rates). The problem of balancing (or, better said, sharing) family responsibilities between men and women should not, however, prevail over the objective of offering adequate childcare and eldercare, especially in the time of an ageing population.The paper concludes that welfare, housing and fiscal policies – more than labor law (i.e. the regulation of the employment relationship) – should be re-oriented in order to provide effective protection to families in a society of truly free and responsible people.