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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our living systems and on the economic and political organization of our country. The significant loss of human lives, the interruption of economic activities, the lockdown, to give just a few references, are undoubted threats to our well-being. The Italian context is of great interest to analyse the possible consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to women’s new daily life routines, not only because of the drastic measures adopted by the Government in the first emergency phase, but also because of the significant gender differences that characterise the country. In a more recent study (Chirivì & Moffa 2020) on women’s equality paths, we were able to highlight how the typically family-based Italian welfare system – the care of the most fragile people (children, elderly and disabled) is almost entirely entrusted to families – penalises women who bear the burden of looking after everyone. The spread of the pandemic has in fact laid bare the already existing gender inequalities, highlighting a dimension of women’s lives that is often hidden or overlooked, based on a persistent disparity in different areas of daily life, from everyday family life to work and social activities. This paper aims to explore two key issues: gender inequality and links between reproduction and production sphere, focusing on pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities in women’s life experiences.

In the panorama of international migration statistics, there is a progressive growth of registrations of Italian citizens residing abroad. In particular, the steady increase in consular registrations based in the People’s Republic of China is striking. The expression “new emigrations” is an increasingly recurrent among scholars to highlight the quantitative and qualitative changes that have characterised Italian emigration abroad in recent years. The choice to emigrate depends on many factors, the very definition of new emigration calls into question aspects of the debate that imply a careful evaluation of the different components that characterize its profile. Which dimensions, above others, act on the choice to emigrate? Which aspects characterize the profile of Italians who decide to undertake an emigration experience in the People’s Republic of China, albeit temporary? New Italian migration in Shanghai is a Skilled Migration? In this article, we will focus on some results of a qualitative research conducted on the new Italian emigration to China. More precisely, in the following pages we try to bring out which dimensions act in the choice to emigrate and which aspects characterize the profile of Italians who decide to emigrate to Shanghai.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our living systems and, more generally, on the economic and political organization of our country. The significant loss of human lives, the interruption of economic activities, the lockdown, to give just a few references, are an undoubted threat to our well-being. Rather important was the impact of the confinement on families and markedly on women, favoring the most disparate forms of abuse. In this scenario, gender-based violence is not added to the list of effects on life, but rather expresses that dimension of life - often left in the shadows - that reflects pathways of suffocated equality and rights often denied to women. Indeed, gender-based violence is an expression of inequality between women and men made clear by the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, the fight against gender-based violence remains a challenge for the 21st century. This paper aims to explore two key issues: gender inequality and interlinkage between reproduction and production sphere, focusing on pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities in women's life experiences.