Financial incentives for families, such as the universal child allowance and various birth bonuses, can provide a boost—albeit a limited one—to birth rates. However, they alone risk generating a secondary effect: lowering mothers' engagement in the work market. INPS raised the alarm in its recent annual report, noting how monetary subsidies must necessarily be complemented by structural and complementary measures. The instruments that are capable of concretely reducing the costs and difficulties associated with childcare are the ones that make the real difference in this scenario. Two in particular: the daycare bonus and smart working. The Institute's data speak clearly. The daycare bonus has a direct effect on employment, increasing the probability of a mother continuing to work by approximately six percentage points. The effect of remote working is significantly more disruptive. Smart working has proven to be a crucial resource for avoiding the "child penalty"—the salary and career penalty that impacts women after childbirth—reducing it by up to 87%. Furthermore, smart working promotes increased wages, which are expected to be around €1,300 higher in the year following a child's birth. Flexibility policies and childcare facilities, INPS believes, not only protect women's careers but also have "positive effects on fertility".