intentions on desired length of stay among immigrants in italy

Abstract The decision to emigrate from the country of origin may not be a permanent one: migrants can decide to return home or to emigrate to a third country. This phenomenon, established for some time in certain other European countries, has become an important one for Italy only recently. This paper contributes to the knowledge of migrants' intentions in two ways: on the one hand, it analyses the factors associated with indecision about future plans; on the other, it focuses on the desired length of stay and its relationship with attachments (family, economic, socio-cultural and psychological) to host and home country. We used two logistic regression models: one for migrants' indecision and the other for migrants' desired length of stay. The data were collected by survey, coordinated by the ISMU Foundation and conducted in 2008 and 2009 with more than 12,000 migrants living in Italy. According to our results, indecision seems to be associated with an intermediate phase of migration at the early stage of family development in the case of negative balance of the migration experience, while attachment to the host country is associated with longer stay, and no attachments or attachment to the country of origin are associated with shorter stay

Who Wants to Become Italian? A Study of Interest in Naturalisation among Foreign Migrants in Italy

Since the early 1990s, Italy, along with other countries situated at Europe’s periphery, has become an attractive destination for migrants due to its lax regulation of migration and its job market. Despite its restrictive naturalisation laws, an increasing number of migrants are becoming eligible for Italian citizenship, which has led to a growing number of naturalisations in recent years. Existing research exploring naturalisation and its determinants has found migrants’ ability to attain citizenship strongly depends on their interest in becoming a member of the host state, requirements (as defined by the host country), and their capacity to overcome various constraints such as the costs involved in the naturalisation process. However, few empirical studies have focused on immigrants’ interest in naturalisation. To fill this gap, we analyse migrants’ interest in naturalisation and how it correlates to their eligibility. This paper relies on the most recent data on interest in naturalisation from the 2018 and 2019 waves of the Regional Observatory for Integration and Multiethnicity of Lombardy (Italy). The results show that not all migrants are interested in naturalisation after assessing its perceived costs and benefits, thus confirming an instrumental approach to citizenship. Interest is mostly related to the legislation and conditions in the country of origin. Moreover, the relationship between eligibility and interest is highly dependent on civil stratification, and eligibility is not directly associated with interest

What role does timing play in migrants' transition to marriage? A comparison between endogamous and exogamous marriages

Couple formation and migration are the result of interrelated decision-making processes in the life cycle. Using data from the "Social Condition and Integration of Foreign Citizens (SCIF)" survey, conducted in Italy in 2011-2012 by Istat, we aim to investigate how the timing of migration events affects the type and timing of marriages in the destination country. Time-related models investigate the competing-risk transitions to endogamous and exogamous marriages with Italian spouses. Obtained results provide evidence of the complexity of today’s migrations, and they indicate the coexistence of various patterns among first-generation migrants in Italy, characterised by a plurality of origins, with different projects and behavioural models. The “interrelation of events” hypothesis explains the transitions to both endogamous and exogamous marriages among women, while men usually spend more time finding a partner and achieving economic stability. Despite this general picture, our analysis shows different and original pathways shaping transitions to marriage by reason of migration and considering a number of demographic and migratory characteristics.Die Gründung eines Paarhaushaltes und Migration sind das Resultat verschiedener, miteinander verwobener Entscheidungsprozesse im Lebenslauf. Ziel der Studie ist es, die Rolle von temporalen Aspekten im Zusammenhang mit der internationalen Wanderung von Personen in Beziehung zum Heiratsverhalten dieser im Ankunftskontext zu setzen. Genutzt werden Daten, die das Italienische Nationale Institut für Statistik (ISTAT) im Rahmen der Umfrage zur "Sozialen Lage und Integration von ausländischen Bürgern" (SCIF) im Zeitraum 2011-12 in Italien erhoben hat. Mit Methoden der Ereignisdatenanalyse werden die konkurrierenden Übergänge in eine endogame beziehungsweise exogame Ehe mit einem/r italienischen Ehepartner/in analysiert. Die Herkünfte, Wanderungspläne und Verhaltensmodelle der ersten Migrantengeneration in Italien sind sehr divers. Unsere Ergebnisse spiegeln diese Diversität wider, indem sie die Komplexität der heutigen Wanderungsbewegungen und die Gleichzeitigkeit von verschiedenen Mustern offenlegen. Die Hypothese über die Interdependenz von Ereignissen ist dabei in der Lage, Erklärungen für endogame und exogame Eheschließungen der Migrantinnen zu liefern. Die Heiraten der Migranten hingegen scheinen durch die Dauer geprägt zu sein, die diese aufwenden, um eine Partnerin zu finden und ökonomische Stabilität zu erlangen. Zusätzlich werden in die Analyse migrationsspezifische Variablen und sozio-demografische Merkmale einbezogen, sodass verschiedene Pfade beim Übergang in die Ehe sichtbar werden

Labour market profiles of Albanian migrants in Italy: Evidence from Lombardy 2001–2015

Albanian migration to Italy represents one of the most intense and iconic East-West migration flows of recent decades and a paradigmatic case of intra-Mediterranean migration. This paper uses a unique data set collected by the Lombardy region’s Observatory of Integration and Multiethnicity in 15 annual cross-sectional surveys over the period 2001–2015. Analysis of this data set enables us to address three questions: first, what are the main factors influencing the labour market performance of Albanian migrants in Lombardy compared with other migrants? Second, what were the differential effects of the post-2008 economic crisis on migrants’ employment stability? Third, were there any significant gender differences in labour market profiles and outcomes? Our main finding is that Albanian migrants have a lower probability of (long-term)unemployment and irregular employment and higher probability of employment compared with other migrants, an effect that is partially attributable to the different structural composition of the Albanian migrant group

Targeting Policies for Multidimensional Poverty and Social Fragility Relief Among Migrants in Italy, Using F-FOD Analysis

In this paper, we apply the novel Fuzzy First-Order Dominance (F-FOD) methodology to rank migrant subpopulations in Lombardy (Italy), in terms of multidimensional poverty and social fragility, for the year 2014, with the purpose to possibly provide useful support to policy-makers, in targeting relief interventions from poverty and discomfort. The F-FOD methodology allows for the direct comparison of different distributions of poverty and fragility, assessed by means of suitable ordinal multi-indicator systems, so extending to this more complex setting, the usual univariate first-order dominance criterion. It also provides complimentary “incomparability” scores, to assess to what extent the final rankings are reliable or instead forcing. It turns out that the levels of poverty and fragility of migrant subpopulations are quite different and, in particular, that the time since migrations has a key impact, on the identification of most critical cases, which typically involve recently migrated people. Evidence also emerges that the temporal poverty/fragility trajectories of migrants, distinguished by country of origin, follow different paths, suggesting how policy interventions must be properly, and differently, tuned to be effective

Family reunification - who, when, and how? Family trajectories among migrants in Italy

Background: Family reunification of migrants in their destination country is often the result of a process that includes one or more steps and combines family and migration events. However, the lack of relevant data often limits the possibility of studying all these stages. Objective: The paper aims to identify family migration models by means of the entire family migration trajectory, highlighting the relationship of these models with the migration project and with the family, cultural, and gender norms of the country of origin. Methods: We used sequence analysis on a large sample of resident families with at least one foreign-born member in Italy, using data collected by the Italian Institute of Statistics in 2011-2012. We focused exclusively on migrants from less developed countries and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Results: Our results indicate that family characteristics and stability in the host country are not always relevant for family reunification. Family, cultural, and gender norms of the home country and the nature of the migration project itself determine the family migration model. When the migration project becomes orientated, or converges over time to settlement, family reunification is pursued regardless of the possible difficulties and conditions during emigration. Conversely, during the time that migrants are maintaining a temporary project, family reunification is not even considered. Contribution: Adopting a longitudinal approach, we generalised and extended previous results, considering migrants from additional countries and studying the reunification of all family members. We compared family migration models and their association with gender, cultural, and family norms of the country of origin and the family migration project

Welfare and social protection: what is the link with secondary migration? Evidence from the 2014‐crisis hit Italian region of Lombardy

Evidence on the relationship between secondary international migration and welfare state (or formal protection) support is currently limited. Also, the experience of financial support from semiformal and informal social protection networks has seen limited inclusion in current reflections on secondary mobility patterns such as onward and return migration. Our study analyses the relationship between support from formal, informal and semiformal social protection and short‐term secondary migration intentions. The study uses open‐access data from the Regional Observatory for Integration and Multiethnicity of Lombardy (Italy) and adopts a competing‐risk framework through multinomial logistic regression. Our data do not support the hypothesis of an ex‐post “magnetic effect” of the Italian formal social protection on its beneficiaries: individuals on formal welfare are more prone to onward and return migration. However, the positive relationship observed between welfare entitlements and onward migration intentions cannot rule out any effect of welfare magnetism from more generous welfare systems. Monetary aid received from Italian friends is negatively related to return intention. At the same time, economic support from foreign‐born friends is correlated to return migration. We interpret results according to social network theory. Economic support and social capital from bridging networks can act as an ex‐post integration‐driven magnet. Bonding social capital from ties with migrants in Italy cannot secure the migrants' stay in Italy. However, it can support return migration. Networks providing bonding transnational social capital, and expressed in the form of financial support from relatives living abroad, are instead positively correlated to both forms of secondary migration

Madri immigrate in Italia, tra lavoro e cura dei figli: l’arte di arrangiarsi

La cura dei figli è un tema cruciale per le implicazioni con il sistema di welfare, la partecipa-zione femminile al mercato del lavoro e la fecondità. Il tema assume particolare rilievo per le madri immigrate in Italia che vivono la rarefazione dei loro legami familiari, causata dalla migrazione e dalla regolamentazione sui ricongiungimenti, in un contesto di arrivo fortemente familistico. Ricorrendo all’Indagine «Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri» (Istat, 2011-2012), l’articolo analizza le strategie di cura informale per conciliare lavoro e famiglia delle lavoratrici immigrate. I risultati mostrano come le madri occupate, rispetto a quelle non occupate, abbiano maggior bisogno di delegare la cura dei figli, indipendentemente dal tipo di contratto di lavoro. La presenza all’interno della famiglia di persone che possono occuparsi dei figli aumenta il ricorso alla cura informale. Circa il tipo di cura informale, emergono scelte diverse per paese di origine: rispetto alle romene, le albanesi e le madri prove-nienti da altri paesi dell’Asia sono più propense a ricorrere alla cura familiare, mentre le madri provenienti dall’Africa subsahariana sono le meno propense

Surveying immigrants in Southern Europe: Spanish and Italian strategies in comparative perspective

Italy and Spain, as countries of recent immigration and high irregularity rates, have struggled to adapt their statistical system, especially their population registers, to adequately reflect the presence of an increasing number of immigrants in their territory. The population registers of the two countries have adapted differently to these changing realities: Spain introduced significant improvements in Padrón which have increased its coverage and accuracy. This is still not the case in Italy, making it necessary to resort to non-random sampling methods. The paper discusses the methodological implications of these differences and evaluates different methodological solutions based on both random and non-random sampling methods in both countries.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 613468 for the research project TEMPER (Temporary versus Permanent Migration).Peer reviewe