| Description |
Today, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta and Greece, the incidence of foreigners on the population is entirely comparable to that of the more traditional European immigration countries. Only forty years ago, however, in these five Southern European countries the size of the foreign presence was decidedly modest. Inverting a secular trend, the migration balance with foreign countries has become positive since the 1970s. But after the migration boom of the beginning of the 21st century, a sudden and sharp decline was observed in the following years of economic crisis. This talk has a dual purpose. First it describes forty years of Italian migrations (1977-2018), systematically distinguishing Center-North from Southern Italy and connecting it with the migratory history of previous decades. We show how the "stop and go" of migrations can be interpreted in the light of the pull factors determined by structural changes in demography and in the labor market. Secondly, it identifies the persistent and structural peculiarities that have shaped the foreign presence in Italy, building a model very different from that of Central and Northern Europe. |
Migration Italian Style, 1977-2018
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