Emerging Trends in Night-Time Activities. Work and Gender Gap in Italy

The night is no longer the counterpart of daytime, as the root of the word (nac in Sanskrit means “to disappear”) would suggest. Since the introduction of artifi cial lighting, night has gradually ceased to be a temporal period opposed to the day, during which activities and norms disappear. According to the latest time use survey available in Italy (2007–2008), none of the daytime activities is missing at night – considerable variance in the timing and precise kind of activity people carry out notwithstanding. The expansion of activities which were traditionally carried out exclusively during the day into the night-time hours was described as a process of colonization (Melbin 1987). It has been argued that artifi cial lighting, the extension of retail opening times, automatic services and new technologies produce a de-cycling eff ect, which is a blurring of the boundaries between day-time and night-time rhythms in the constantly active city (Kellerman 1989). Furthermore, the process of colonization can lead to inequalities and temporal segregation processes, because access to services (e. g. public transport) could be particularly demanding for some segments of the population. One of the signs of the process of colonization is the fact that people sleep less than before. According to the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT), compared to past decades, time spent sleeping has slightly decreased. On average, Italians sleep less than the populations in other European countries: a signifi cant part of people goes to sleep after midnight and wakes up before six in the morning. The night-time hours are, thus, fi lled with activities other than sleep. This contribution will fi rst identify the activities carried out by the Italian population during the night. Then, we’ll focus on emergent trends concerning the access to night work by women in Italy