II generation of immigrants and its integration in the Italian labour market

Michela Camilla Pellicani, Università degli Studi di Bari
Antonella Rotondo, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT)
Roberto A. Palumbo, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT)
Rossana Mancarella, Università degli Studi di Bari

The integration of the immigrant children is one of the most relevant subjects focusing the attention of the scholars as well as of the policy makers of the EU. The strong interest caused by this phenomenon, paradoxically, does not correspond to the availability of information and data that are still poor especially when we try to make international comparisons. Italy is only now starting to face the entry in the labour market of the II generation immigrants. This happens without any previous experience and not still having elaborated any specific inclusion policies in this field. More than the rapid and consistent quantitative increase, it is important to point out that the II generation is characterized by a higher education level (compared to their parents) and this higher level allows (or should allow) them to aspire to professional positions denied to their parents who have been obliged to often accept subordinate roles. Our main purpose therefore has been to answer to the questions: in a vertical perspective, which are the differences between the professional inclusion of the I and of the II generation of immigrants? In a horizontal perspective, which are the differences between the professional inclusion of the II generation of immigrants and of the Italians of the same age? We used the micro data of the Labour Force Survey conducted by the ISTAT.