Migrants in the Italian labour market: gender differences and regional disparities

This chapter focuses on the discrimination of migrant workers based on gender as they emerge in the complex reality of the Italian regional labour markets. Recent studies show that while in the Northern regions migrants are concentrated in the industry and services sector (classic ‘Continental model’), in the Southern regions they work mainly in the agricultural sector or provide domestic work and family care services with less stable and thus more irregular forms of employment (‘Mediterranean model’). The micro data used has been taken from two separate sample surveys that have been analysed using specific statistical techniques. On the basis of the Labour Force Survey of 2006 , we examine the labour market performance of resident migrants in comparison with that of the Italian population. In particular, we consider differences in labour market access, activity rates, employment and unemployment rates, employment status and sectors of the economy in the four Italian macro-regions (North-West, North-East, Centre and South). As will be shown, gender plays an important role in distinguishing the labour market behaviour of migrants in comparison with that of the Italian population. In the second part of the chapter, we examine the employment status of migrants coming from LDCs and CE countries distinguishing between regular and irregular migrants. In this context, we rely on the use of per capita data of the survey ‘SUD’ 2005, funded by Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and conducted by the ISMU Foundation. This survey includes information on migrants living and working in Italy without taking into account the legal status of migrants, that is whether they are regular or irregular migrants. We analyse the determining factors of migrants’ employment to show how gender and the peculiar characteristics of the region of residence strongly impact upon the possibility of becoming employed and the nature of employment, as well as other socio-demographic factors such as age, education, country of origin and duration of stay in Italy.