ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the inter-relationship between the paid and the unpaid work, and it focuses on the Mediterranean countries, which are the ones showing a more unequal share of total work by gender, in order to further the development of the institutional framework helping to advance gender equality. Mediterranean countries are characterised in terms of gender as being those that have lower female activity rates and the lowest fertility rates among European countries. The TUS data allows adding a new aspect to the study of gender inequalities and social reproduction of the population by highlighting the fact that they are also the countries that show a more unequal distribution of unpaid care work, together with the some of the Eastern European countries. The international comparison shows that there are institutional settings in which gender symmetry is much easier to achieve: as in the case of the Nordic countries compared to the Mediterranean countries.
