Istat disseminates the main results of the ad hoc module “The labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants” in Italy included in the Labour Force Survey during the second quarter of 2014.
The topics of the survey were: the main reasons for migrating, the level of integration of migrants and naturalized citizens on the labour market and obstacles to labour market participation.
In the second quarter of 2014, foreigners accounted for 8.6% of the total population aged 15-74, naturalized citizens accounted for 1.3%. Employment was the main reason for migration to Italy for almost 60% of foreigners born abroad and one-third of naturalized citizens.
From 2008 to 2014, the employment rate of foreigners decreased by 6.3 percentage points, much more rapidly than the rates of Italian-born and naturalized citizens (respectively -3.0 and -3.3 percentage points). At the same time the unemployment rate of foreigners almost doubled compared to 2008, reaching 16.1%, 4.4 points above the rate for Italian-born citizens.
In the second quarter of 2014, 59.5% of foreigners found their current job through an informal network of friends, relatives, and acquaintances (38.1% for naturalized citizens and 25% for Italians).
29.9% of foreign workers (age group 15-74) stated they were over-qualified for their occupation. This percentage decreased to 23.6% for naturalized and 11.5% for Italians.
Over qualification was higher for women, particularly among migrants: about four out of ten employed migrant women (aged 15-74) perceived that they were overqualified; the most disadvantaged were Polish, Ukrainian, Filipino, Peruvian, Moldovan and Romanian.
Non-Italian birth was an obstacle to find a job or a suitable job for 36.2% of foreigners and 22% of naturalized citizens. For migrants the main obstacles to find a job corresponding with their qualifications and/or having a job at all were the lack of language skills in host country languages (33.8%), lack of recognition of qualifications obtained abroad (22.3%) and origin, religion or social background (21.1%).
For information
Employment, education and training
Federica Pintaldi
ph. +39 06 4673.4560
pintaldi@istat.it
Eugenia De Rosa
ph. +39 06 4673.4544
eugenia.derosa@istat.it
Cristiano Marini
ph. +39 06 4673.4714
cristiano.marini@istat.it
Elisa Marzilli
ph. +39 06 4673.4818
marzilli@istat.it