The condition of immigrants in Italy. Lives, experiences and plans | Survey
PRESS RELEASE
Survey on the condition of immigrants in Italy. Lived experiences and plans
‘Over time, Italy – stresses the President of Eurispes, Gian Maria Fara – has changed from a transit zone into a stable destination for millions of people fleeing war, poverty and climate crises. The data tell us that the potential of foreign citizens is largely underused: in work, in school and in vocational training. Continuing to waste this human capital harms them and, at the same time, harms the country. There are almost five million legal migrants resident in Italy. They help generate 9% of GDP. They pay social security contributions that support more than six hundred thousand pensions. They set up businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of Italians. Yet immigration is treated almost exclusively as a matter of public order, rather than as an essential component of the country’s social and productive model.
This short-sightedness comes at a very high cost, which will be paid by young Italians who will, tomorrow, find themselves shouldering an increasingly unsustainable pension system and a labour market afflicted by a deep mismatch between supply and demand.
The most complex and important challenge, also taking into account the experience of other European countries, is to create a virtuous circle that enables genuine social, linguistic and economic integration, with entry channels linked to the labour market, based on the needs of individual sectors and local areas, and with regular contracts that prevent conditions of exploitation and hardship, which would otherwise translate into social conflict and deviance.
As we have argued since the 1980s through our studies and surveys – concludes the President of Eurispes –, either the phenomenon is governed with a long-term vision, or it is endured without being understood in its entirety and in its potential. Continuing to portray the migrant solely as an invader or as a victim are two sides of the same coin: both prevent us from seeing reality, which is that of complex individuals who are already rewriting the country’s demographic, economic and social pact. Giving a voice directly to those who live the condition of migrants, as Eurispes has sought to do with this survey on the condition of immigrants in Italy, is not an act of generosity: it is the only serious way to build proposals rooted in reality.’
Of the immigrants surveyed, 27.8% have lived in Italy for 3-5 years, 24.2% for 6-10 years, 19.4% for 1-2 years, another 19.4% for more than 10 years, and 9.2% for less than a year. The majority of immigrants, therefore, report a medium-length stay in our country.
Undocumented foreigners without a residence permit account for 15.5% of the sample.
Most immigrants, 52%, are alone and do not live with their family in Italy.
In almost three cases out of ten, arrival in our country takes place through paid intermediaries, while a third of immigrants make their own arrangements.
People emigrate above all to escape poverty (23.3%), but also because of a lack of work (18.5%), the hope of finding better living conditions (14.8%), family reunification (10.3%), a lack of freedom in their country of origin (9.4%), and war or serious unrest (8.9%).
Immigrants chose Italy as their destination because their family lives here (20.5%) or friends/acquaintances do (18.4%). There is a widespread belief that Italy enjoys economic prosperity (15.5%) and that ours is a country that welcomes foreigners (10.6%).
More than a third of the immigrants interviewed arrived in Italy with a residence permit/card (36.3%), a fifth by landing by sea/irregular entry (20.7%) and another fifth by applying for asylum (19.4%). Irregular arrival is cited at above-average rates by those coming from Egypt (52.9%), Bangladesh (38.5%), Morocco (26.7%), Pakistan (26.3%) and Nigeria (25%).
People come to Italy to stay: indeed, the majority of immigrants say they want to remain in Italy for ever (52%); almost a third intend to stay for at least several years (30.9%). One in 10 is considering leaving Italy. In addition, 6.7% do not know what they will do. Our country is therefore seen above all as a stable place to settle, far more than as a place of transit.
78.1% of the immigrants reached by the survey have a job, 13.2% do not have one but are looking for one, and 8.6% are not looking (the latter include pensioners/elderly people, homemakers and students). Men in work outnumber women: 83.1% vs 69.3%.
Predictably, among those with a residence permit the percentage in work is higher than among those without one (80.7% vs 64.2%). Of those without a residence permit, 22.2% are looking for work and 13.6% are not.
The employment status of foreign residents in Italy shows a predominant share of stable employment relationships (62.4%), while 32.4% report periodic or seasonal employment and 5.2% casual or occasional work. This suggests that, for the majority of employed foreigners, integration into the Italian labour market has taken on a largely continuous form, although a not insignificant share, more than a third of the sample (37.6%), is in a situation of temporal precariousness linked to the seasonal or periodic nature of their work. The distribution of the occupations mainly held in Italy by foreign residents shows a significant concentration in certain occupational categories: manual workers (20.4%) and agricultural workers (12.8%).
24.3% of immigrants have received at least one offer of illegal work (excluding undeclared work) during their time in Italy.
The ways in which foreign residents found their current job show a clearly predominant role for informal relational networks. Work is found above all through relatives or friends (47.7%) or through a fellow national (29%).
Adding together permanent and fixed-term contracts, 68.3% of immigrants have a recognised form of contract, while more precarious forms such as apprenticeships and atypical contracts account for marginal shares, at 1.5% and 3.7% respectively. A particularly significant figure, however, concerns the share of those who say they have no contract at all, at 23.8%, plus a further 0.7% awaiting regularisation. Almost a quarter of foreign workers, therefore, lack any formal contractual protection.
Assessments of employers’ behaviour towards foreign workers are mainly positive, with the majority of immigrants, 54.1%, describing it as fair. A smaller share, 8.8%, credit their employer with a supportive attitude, describing them as someone who tries to help. On the negative side, 19.7% consider their employer’s behaviour unfair, while 6.4% report being mistreated, a figure which, although small in percentage terms, points to forms of abuse affecting a not insignificant share of foreign workers.
The share of those who describe their employer’s behaviour as fair reaches 67.9% among women, compared with 47.5% among men.
80.8% of immigrants have never turned to Italian trade unions, patronati (welfare advice centres) or other workers’ protection agencies, either because they believe these institutions could not help (24%) or because they have not needed them (39.2%); 21.3% say they do not know whom to turn to, and 12.2% express trust in these institutions.
Four foreigners in ten have difficulty with the Italian language (42.2%).
59.5% of foreigners send less than a quarter of their earnings to their family in their country of origin. 30.7% send no money at all or say they have no relatives in their country of origin, while 9.6% allocate between a quarter and a half of their income to remittances. The highest brackets are virtually absent, with 0.2% sending more than three quarters of their earnings and no responses in the bracket between a half and three quarters. Money is sent mainly through Money Transfer Operators (66.7%). Bank transfers account for 22.7%, carrying cash directly when travelling to the country of origin 4.6%, entrusting cash to relatives or trusted persons 4.3%, and the postal service just 1.8%.
Most foreigners live in rented accommodation (55.3%), while 16.3% live with relatives or friends and 15.9% live in a reception centre or welfare organisation. Only 8.8% live in a home owned by themselves or their partner, while the remaining housing arrangements account for marginal shares: 2.1% live with their employer, 1% have no fixed residence and 0.4% are homeless. Taking the most precarious housing conditions together, over 17.3% of foreigners are in a housing situation lacking independent stability, a figure which, together with the share of those living with relatives or friends, or with their employer, shows that for a significant part of the foreign population (almost 36%) access to independent and stable housing remains a goal not yet fully achieved.
A significant share find their home too small (45.8%) and overcrowded (29.3%); 20.2% have problems with the temperature in summer or winter (too hot/too cold), and fewer than one in ten consider that they live in a dilapidated home or one in need of renovation (9.3%).
As regards assessments of Italians’ attitudes towards foreigners, the prevailing perception is one of indifference (22.3%), together with a sense of friendliness, felt by one foreigner in five (20.3%). These are followed by understanding/solidarity (14.6%), hostility (14.2%) and mistrust (13.1%). One immigrant in ten perceives racist attitudes (10%), selfishness stands at just 2.9% and a compassionate/pitying attitude at 2.1%. Looking at positive and negative assessments as a whole, and counting indifference among the latter, negative assessments outweigh positive ones (62.5% compared with 37%).
57.8% of immigrants have witnessed racist incidents at least once. Personal experiences provide further confirmation of the phenomenon: the majority of immigrants have personally been victims of racist incidents at least once (53.2%).
Six immigrants in ten (59.9%) are interested in being able to exercise the right to vote, while 40.1% say they are not interested. As for obtaining citizenship, interest is equally marked (57% want it and 32.8% do not), but around one foreigner in ten does not yet have a clear opinion on the matter.
