Female Migration in a Changing World. Eastern Europeans in Central Italy

15/05/13 09:27Female Migration in a Changing World. Eastern Europeans in Central Italy

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Espace populationssociétésSpace populations societies

2009/2 :VariaArticles – Articles

Female Migration in a ChangingWorld. Eastern Europeans inCentral ItalyLes migrations féminines dans un monde changeant. Les Européennes de l’Est en Italie centrale

ARMANDO MONTANARI ET BARBARA STANISCIA1p. 227-241

Résumés

The presence of foreign women in Italy is particularly relevant in communities originating fromEastern European countries. This presence is destined to increase in the near future. EasternEuropean women are particularly numerous in the Adriatic regions, mainly because of spatialproximity. This kind of mobility is also reinforced by the EU development programmesfavouring cooperation among all the Adriatic regions. The phenomenon is relevant enough tojustify the existence of an Adriatic model.

Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area represents well this model. Female migration in this area ischaracterised by a large presence of Eastern European women, fairly well-educated, who movealone, motivated by economic factors, searching for autonomy and independence. They play animportant role in the domestic care, in a mature society where women have a job outside home.Their salary is not very high but it is used also to contribute to the survival of the familymembers left behind with whom they keep a strong link.

Les migrations féminines dans un monde changeant. Les Européennes de l’Est en ItaliecentraleL’aire urbaine de Chieti-Pescara représente bien ce modèle. La migration féminine dans cetterégion est caractérisée par un nombre important de femmes d’Europe de l’est, plutôt bienéduquées, ayant migré seules, motivées par des considérations économiques et qui recherchentune certaine indépendance. Elles jouent un rôle important dans la sphère domestique dans unesociété mature où les femmes ont un travail en dehors de la maison. Leurs salaires ne sont pas

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très élevés mais sont essentiels puisqu’ils contribuent fortement à la survie de la famille restéeau pays avec laquelle elles gardent des liens forts.

Entrées d'index

Mots-clés : migration des femmes, migration des européennes de l’est, modèle adriatiqueKeywords : female migration, eastern european migration, adriatic model

Texte intégral

Introduction

1. Political and economic changes ineastern european countries: Albania,Bulgaria, Poland, Rumania and Ukraine

1.1. General characteristics of migratory flows

This paper focuses on a region of Central-Adriatic Italy, the Chieti-Pescarametropolitan area. The presence of a fairly significant number of foreign women[Montanari and Staniscia, 2006] and a large number of Eastern European women inthe area corroborate the hypothesis of the existence of an Adriatic model of femalemigration [Staniscia, 2009]. This model is characterised by a high presence of EasternEuropean women when compared to the ones coming from other countries. This modelcharacterises the Adriatic Italian regions and can be considered as a sub-type of theMediterranean model [King and Zontini, 2000]. The Chieti-Pescara metropolitan areacan be considered as representative of the Adriatic model. This paper will investigatethe main reasons, characteristics and problems relating to the migration of women fromEastern Europe.

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This paper is organized as follows. In the first chapter, we will devote our attention tothe political and economic changes taking place in countries that formerly had aplanned economy, specifically Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Rumania and Ukraine. Thesecond chapter highlights the main characteristics of female migration in the post-Wallera. The third chapter develops an analysis concerning foreign women in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area, based on the results of fieldwork undertaken in 2007. Thefourth chapter outlines the profiles of Eastern European women of various nationalitiesderived from analysed data. Conclusions will follow.

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As of 1 January 2008, there were 3,433,651 foreign residents in Italy. A highpercentage of them come from Eastern European countries. Rumanians make up thelargest community in absolute terms. Their number increased by 83% in the 2007-2008period, surpassing the Albanian community, which increased by merely 7% in the sameperiod. Significant increases were also noted for the Polish community (34%) andUkrainians (11%).

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Table 1. Italy. Citizens coming from Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Rumania and Ukraine.01.01.2008

Source: Istat, 2008.

1.2. Organization and management of socialservices from planned to market economy

Blangiardo and Menonna (2008) have predicted the future growth of migratory flowsto 2030. Their forecast is based on a model that takes both the dynamics registered inItaly and demographic and socio-economic perspectives in the home countries intoaccount. According to their forecast, the number of Rumanians will have doubled by2015 and the number of Ukrainians will go up by 50% by 2010, while the number ofAlbanians will double by 2030. After this date, flows originating from Eastern Europeancountries such as Poland, Rumania and Ukraine will stabilize, while the size of othernational groups will increase.

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The expected increase in migration from Eastern European countries over the nexttwenty years will mostly be due to family reunification. Push factors related to labourmarket imbalances will actually be reduced in the next five years in Ukraine and Polandand over the next ten years in Rumania.

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Population Women Percentage of total immigrants

(x 1,000) (%) (%)

Albania 402 45 12

Bulgaria 33 61 1

Poland 90 70 3

Rumania 625 53 18

Ukraine 133 80 4

Total foreign population in Italy 3,433 50 100

According to Ellman (1989), countries with a planned economy operated on the basisof a model integrating five elements: (i) public ownership of means of production, (ii)control of all activities by the Communist Party, (iii) centralized decision-making power,(iv) a pyramidal hierarchic structure characterized by a top-down process in thetransmission of decisions and (v) a planning process based on the amount of goods tobe produced rather than their monetary value.

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However, this is merely a theoretical model that was never actually applied. It wasmanaged through competitive conflict between political bodies and public institutions.Moreover, each country interpreted the model individually and it was merely used as aformal reference, particularly during the years of the Communist regimes. The difficultyof managing this reference model has been mentioned here in order to highlight the roleof enterprises in the distribution of power between the Communist Party and publicinstitutions.

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The planned economy cannot be intended as a tool able to fully control processes. Inreality, therefore, large national companies were not powerless entities passivelyadapting to central government decisions. These enterprises were actually aconcentration of power in the hands of managers who had very precise ideas about howto expand the firm, and who tried to influence both party and public institutions.

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Shomina (1992) asserts that there are at least three types of relationships between9




1.3. Proof of the social and economic crisis

state companies and local authorities: “owners”, “neighbourhoods”, “parasites” and,more rarely, “partners”. Yanitsky (1991) affirms that state companies “feed” thecommunity since they directly manage many functions of local governments, such ashousing supply for their employees, access to health care, opportunities for recreationand free time, holiday organization and even food supplies.

Besides, these companies contribute to the creation of infrastructure, providingequipment and know-how for industrial production and maintenance.

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Radaev (1991) describes the situation as “occupation-based welfare” and underlinesthe paternalism of the employer who controls the living standards of employees, notthrough the salary paid, but through the control of goods and services.

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In the shift from the planned to the market economy and because of the consequentinnovations, state companies disappeared and, as a result, the welfare state that theysupported.

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It would therefore be inappropriate to check the efficiency of goods and servicesprovided by local authorities that never operated autonomously, neither before nor after1989. The changes that have occurred in the state companies have not only modified theproductive system but also the functions of assistance to the population and the supplyof services, for which the local authorities were not ready.

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The five countries analysed here do not have many common elements except forhaving been part of the Eastern Bloc. Since 1989, therefore, they have entered atransition phase due to the dismantlement of the Socialist system. But some countriesdiffered from others. In Albania, the transition phase had peculiar characteristics, sincethat country – incidentally the poorest in Europe – had lived in a sort of autarchicisolationism since the Second World War and up to 1990.

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“Stalinist” practices and State control of every single individual decision were farmore rigid in Albania than in other countries with planned economies, and changes tothe economic and political system only came about after 1990, much later than in othercountries. The rapid growth of the private sector was accompanied by highunemployment rates, not least because of public sector waste and rather moresubstantial temporary migratory flows than in other Socialist countries [Çuka et al.,2003]. Rumania was controlled by the Ceausescu regime, and had thereforeexperienced an overly centralised decision-making system and the concentration ofState property. According to Earle and Sapatorou (1993), social mobility was rigidlyregulated, with graduates undertaking careers on the decision of the centralgovernment, which also determined wages on the basis of parameters such as theproduction sector, nature of employment and length of service. Ukraine is the only oneof the analysed countries to have been part of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainiangovernment abolished exit visas in January 1993 and passed a specific law to this effectin February 1994. It is from this period onwards that the most substantial migrationbegan. The government estimates that Ukrainian migrant communities currently residefor the most part in Russia (1,000,000), Poland (300,000), the Czech Republic andItaly (200,000). A survey undertaken in 2002 [Malynovska, 2004] showed a significantincrease in the migratory flow towards Germany, Portugal and Italy compared to aprevious survey using the same methodology in 1994. The second survey showed thatwhile the percentage of emigrants with a secondary school diploma remained high, thepercentage of those with a higher education degree, who had managed to find a suitablejob at home because of the process of economic development, dropped by about half.

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2. Migration of eastern europeanwomen

Flows towards Poland, Russia and Portugal were primarily made up of male emigrantswho found work in construction and agriculture, while flows towards Greece and Italywere largely made up of women who found work in these countries as household help.

It is hard to measure the state of malaise experienced as a result of highunemployment rates, a different wage structure, the reorganisation of the productionsystem and the different distribution and organisation of services, but also theperturbations that derived from the change in the way the issues of ethics and civilconscience were considered. Although the Western way of thinking, based on civil rightsand freedom of expression, had been anxiously awaited, it subsequently led to a form ofconfusion and an existential crisis. The transition period created serious imbalances inthe administrative system and the distribution of services. The health system inparticular suffered, leading to an alarming rise in the mortality rate, especially in Russiaand the other former USSR countries [Leon et al., 1997]. One figure that more widelyconcerns all Eastern European countries is the suicide rate, measured by Mäkinen(2000) for the 1984-94 decade and calculated in relation to the consumption of alcoholproducts, economic growth, the percentage of homicides, life expectancy, freedom andpolitical rights. In this study, Ukraine was classified in Group 1, “high-suicidecountries”, together with many former USSR countries; Poland and Rumania in Group3, “low suicide, unequal sex distribution”, Bulgaria in Group 4, “low suicide, unequaldistribution”, and Albania in Group 5, “low suicide, equal distribution”. For Group 1 inparticular, it was possible to identify a clear correlation for the entire decade betweenthe suicide rate and alcohol consumption. The results of this study could contribute tounderstanding the reasons for the emigration of the women in Pescara. Wheninterviewed, they said they had left behind difficult relationships with their partners,besides having to work abroad in order to support the rest of the family back home.

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Contemporary societies in developed countries are increasingly populated by thosedefined by Saskia Sassen (2001) as “professional households without a wife, regardlessof the fact that it may have a couple of man and woman or man and man or woman andwoman”. Sassen hypothesises that in global cities, household tasks are externalised andconsigned to the market either directly, through the purchase of goods and services, orindirectly, through the purchase of domestic work. Work of this kind is increasinglydone by immigrant women [Staniscia, 2009.

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The situation of Eastern European women in Italy is similar to their situation in otherWestern countries and the stories of these women all seem to resemble each other.

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There are several reasons why Eastern European women decide to emigrate. Themain reason is the search for work and improved financial conditions, followed byother, more personal reasons such as the desire to change one’s life or escape a husbandwho is sick, violent or an alcoholic and finally, the desire to save money to supportoneself and one’s family [Näre, 2007]. Another very important reason is to earn enoughmoney to educate one’s children and buy a house for them [Fedyuk, 2006]

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Lena Näre (2007) analyses the migration paths and stories of Ukrainian and Polishwomen in Naples, pointing out that nearly all these women work as caregivers anddomestic help. These women often live with the families they work for and doeverything: they wash, iron, clean, cook and care for the elderly or the ill. Sassendescribes it as the return of the servant class. Eastern European women often complain

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about not having a work permit because their employers prefer not to regularize themso as to avoid paying taxes and national insurance contributions. Näre (2007) pointsout that the lack of a work permit is a handicap not so much in terms of finding workbut rather in terms of reduced mobility. Ukrainian women complain that, since theycannot travel freely to their country of origin, they are unable to maintain stablerelations with people at home.

Relations with the country of origin are not always easy or positive. In Ukraine,women who emigrate are considered prostitutes, pig-herders, wood-choppers: womenwho earn too much money to be doing honest work [Fedyuk, 2006; Keryk, 2004]. Theyalso deprive themselves of political rights and in fact give up participating in public life.However, they do not integrate into their host society because they consider their pathto be temporary. They tend to return to their country of origin when they can, butusually leave again quite quickly, either because they cannot accept the low wage levelsor because they are unwilling, in Ukraine, to do the menial jobs that they are willing todo abroad.

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It is hard for women from outside the EU to obtain a work permit in Italy because ofvery strict laws and a very muddled bureaucracy. There are two opposinginterpretations of the way Ukrainian women react to this. Lena Näre (2007) talks ofdesperate women who are prepared to pay taxes and contributions out of their ownwages in order to obtain a work permit. This, the writer says, would give them freedomof movement and free them from their employers. Fedyuk (2006), on the other hand,says that it suits Ukrainian women not to have a work permit because they prefer toremain invisible, go abroad for short periods and earn a higher income, as they do nothave to pay taxes and contributions. Perhaps their attitude depends on the timeperspective: obtaining a work permit is far more important for someone who hasdecided to stay in Italy for a long time than for someone who wants to return homequickly.

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What is the profile of Ukrainian women in Italy? Keryk (2004) confirms that mostUkrainian immigrants in Italy are women, most of them from Western Ukraine. Themajority are in the age range of 36-45 years and most of them are separated with adependent child left at home. Nearly 40% of them are highly educated; nearly 50% workas cleaners and nearly 44% as caretakers of elderly individuals or babysitters. More than40% of them say they manage to send home 400-600 dollars a month and 12% say theymanage to send more than 600 dollars.

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It would be impossible to discuss the migration of Eastern European women to Italywithout making territorial distinctions. To start with, there are differences in thenational character that explain why the attitudes of Ukrainian women are different, forexample, from those of Rumanian women. Then there are differences between womencoming from urban areas and women coming from rural areas.

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The process of migration from Rumania underwent a sudden change starting fromJanuary 2002, when Rumanian citizens acquired the right to free circulation within theSchengen area once they had entered it as tourists. Before this date, it was mainly menwho emigrated; women only did so to follow their husbands or other male members ofthe family. It was very rare for women to migrate on their own, as they consideredthemselves or were considered to be unsuited to undertake what was often an illegaljourney. Obtaining a visa was so costly that illegal travel was often the only way. It washard for women to run this risk. The fact that women who decided to migrate weregenerally viewed as “prostitutes” if they did so without a male member of the familyshould also be considered. Starting from 2002, however, the free circulation of touristschanged everything [Vlase, 2006]. Women migrate regardless of their husbands orbrothers to improve their financial situation, escape the control of the family or improve

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their situation once they have returned home. According to Ionela Vlase (2006), thedecision to migrate creates a genuine process of empowerment. However, unlike othernational groups, Rumanian women tend to live with other members of the family, try toget their husbands to follow them or go back to their husbands. This also influencestheir choice of job. They work as domestic help but tend not to live with the employerand prefer to work by the hour so as to be able to look after their families. Despite this,they complain of feeling extremely isolated and alone. They feel excluded from life inItaly while finding it difficult to create a life of their own.

Turning our attention to Polish women, we find a situation similar to the onesdescribed earlier. The economic crisis generated by the transition to a market economyhas created unemployment and a sharp fall in income levels, which has principallyaffected women. Their right to work has also been restricted by the policies ofconservative governments in recent years: no more social services to look after childrenand help mothers, limited access to contraceptive methods and an anti-abortion stance.All these measures have been implemented to return women to their role as daughters,wives and mothers within the four walls of the home: not independent workers butrather financially dependent [Coyle, 2007]. These neo-conservative governments reflectthe social situation of the country, where there are men with health problems such asalcoholism and men who are violent, especially at home. Hence, financial problems, thedesire to escape oppressive families and the denial of their human rights have led Polishwomen to undertake migration paths. In countries where it is difficult to settle legallyand where policies are unfavourable to foreigners, such as Italy, even the most highlyeducated women do menial jobs – baby-minders, caretakers and cleaners – oftenremaining illegal. Bulgarian women experience the same situation [Suter, 2008]. Wemust ask ourselves what will happen in the future and how policies will evolve,considering that Poland has the highest female education rate in the EU [Eurostat,2005]. These women undertake paths that make them feel like long-distancecommuters or travellers rather than migrants. They often move temporarily, oftenreturning to their country of origin where they have often left their children. They havea very close network of friends and acquaintances through which they find a place tolive and a job once they have reached their destination, and with whom they share theirproblems and interests. By working long hours for a satisfactory income, they manageto create the kind of modern and globalised life for themselves that they cannot have inPoland. “Polish women have been able to construct alternative livelihoods and workeridentities and avoid becoming the gendered subjects of official conservative discourse.Mobility has enabled many women to remain economic actors; unmarried women tocohabit with their partners without censure; lesbian women to form same-sexrelationship without discrimination; and married women to achieve a socially legitimateform of marital separation” [Coyle, 2007].

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The working situation of foreign women changes for the better as time goes by. Whenthey arrive in the host country they generally live in the house where they work, doingwhat Anderson (2000) calls the three “Cs”: cleaning, cooking and caring. This is acomfortable situation in that they spend their lives in someone else’s house, not havingto worry about anything and carrying out tasks that any Italian woman would have doneuntil about fifty years ago. However, the situation is psychologically unbearable, as infact the foreign women become the property of the host family, on which they are totallydependent. They have no independence and no freedom; they are paid very low wagesand in general their presence is illegal. It is for this reason that the women’s path movestowards emancipation, abandoning the house and leading them to the search fordifferent jobs, especially cleaning different houses. This way the women feel freer andmore independent. They choose their employers and negotiate their working hours and

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3. The research

3.1. The methodology

Figure 1

pay, even though they often come into conflict. In fact, they are given the heavy cleaningwhile the employers do the lighter work. The employers then complain because theyfind that the employees are not careful or thorough enough; they are only interested inmaking money and not in keeping the house clean: this was the result of a survey ofAlbanian women in Athens [Athanasopoulou, 2008]. The conflict in the Greek survey isclear: the Albanian women see themselves as professionals who do jobs for which theywant to be well paid, while their female employers view them as modern servants whomust do everything there is to do without counting their working hours and pay.

The qualitative survey on the presence of immigrant women from Eastern Europe inthe Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area (Fig.1) was carried out through a questionnairesubmitted to 129 women from different countries: Ukraine (30), Albania (29), Rumania(26), Poland (24) and Bulgaria (20). It is a reasoned sample, not a casual or stratifiedone, constructed on the basis of informed meetings with the interviewers of variousnationalities. The interviewers have the advantage of possessing in-depth knowledge ofthe communities the women belong to and those with which they have frequentprofessional and human contact. This knowledge made it possible to make a reasonedchoice of 129 women to interview, who would be the most representative of thecommunities. The questionnaires were therefore submitted by foreign women whoeither belong to or are close to the communities. This method was chosen to avoid thenegative impact created by the social and cultural distance between possible Italianinterviewers and the immigrant women. The interviewers were trained at a series ofmeetings during which they were taken through the questionnaire point by point andtold the reasons for the questions and the positive consequences in terms of knowledgeand policy. For their part, the interviewers pointed out possible controversial points ofthe questionnaire and questions that could be problematic for the respondents. Acommon solution to the problems was found.

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3.2. The resultsThe female foreign population represented by the sample examined is an adult

population: only 4.76% of the women interviewed are 25 years old or younger, whilemore than 32% are women over 45 years old. The most widely represented age rangesare the 25-35 year group (28.57% of the sample) and the 35-45 year group (33.33% ofthe sample). So this is a working age population at the height of their working capacity,a fact that will be confirmed when we analyse the composition of the sample byoccupation.

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The foreign women interviewed mainly live without a male presence but notnecessarily alone: in fact, only 28.57% of the women interviewed said they are marriedor live with their spouse, while the rest of the sample is made up of unmarried women(24.60%), separated or divorced women (21.43%), married women who do not live withtheir spouse (14.29%) and widows (9.52%). The unmarried women are to be found notonly among the youngest respondents (less than 25 years) but also among the middle-aged ones. In the case of married women who do not live with their spouses, in mostcases the husbands live in the country of origin and, as we will see further on,occasionally depend on their wives’ income. The percentage of widows is fairlysignificant, demonstrating the rather high mortality rate of Eastern European men, aswe mentioned in the first chapter.

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Besides being unaccompanied by their husbands, many foreign women are also inItaly without their children, either because they do not have children (27.78%) orbecause their children do not live with them (35.71%). Only 34.13% of the womeninterviewed have children living with them. In most cases, when the children do not livewith their mothers it is because they live in the country of origin, in general with theirfathers, as children would be a problem for women on their own in Italy who have towork for several hours a day. When the spouse and offspring-related data are viewedtogether, the prevailing family model that emerges is one in which the woman emigrateson her own and supports her spouse and children through her remittances. Themajority of the minor children the women have to support (91.49%) are of school-goingage, while 8.51% are less than three years old. The majority of the women’s older

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children do not go to university (66%) and have a job (78%). However, 22% of adultchildren are also unemployed.

On average, the women interviewed left their country of origin 5.6 years ago: theearliest departure was 16 years ago and the most recent 6 months ago. Three-quartersof the women (75.40%) left their home country to move directly to the Chieti-Pescarametropolitan area, while 22.22% went to another Italian city and only subsequentlymoved to the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area. Finally, 1.59% of the women followed acomplex migration path: first abroad, then another Italian city and finally the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area, and another 0.79% of the women first went to anotherforeign country to then arrive in the reference metropolitan area. These data thereforesuggest that their arrival in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area is not a random factorand that, in most cases, it is a predetermined choice, either the first choice when leavingthe country of origin or the second choice when arriving in Italy. They stay in this areafor quite a long time: nearly 40% of the women have been living in the metropolitanarea for over five years and 6% of these for over ten years. Only 11.11% of the samplearrived less than a year ago, while nearly 49% of the women arrived from one to fiveyears ago. These figures imply a fairly stable settlement and the desire to stay, at leastuntil the much-awaited moment of returning to their country of origin. More than 80%of the women have left their country of origin to seek better fortunes by workingelsewhere, while only a little over 10% of them took the decision to follow a spouse whohad already gone abroad. Finally, nearly 5% of the sample said they had left theircountry of origin for educational purposes. The main reasons for having chosen theChieti-Pescara metropolitan area are the availability of job opportunities (for 33.33% ofthe women interviewed) and the presence of other family members (for 20.63% of thewomen interviewed); next come the presence of friends (for 12.70%), compatriots (for8.73%), the presence of compatriots, family members and friends (for 10.32%) and thepresence of friends plus the job opportunities (for 9.52%). Only 2.38% of therespondents moved for educational purposes. Nearly 58% of respondents said theyintend to return to their country of origin. While this percentage is not a low one, it isfar lower than for other national groups. The migration path is therefore a genuinejourney that starts and ends in the same place. Nearly 77% of respondents said that theywould continue to live in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area before going back totheir country of origin. This figure therefore confirms the non-transitory nature of theforeign settlement in the area under consideration, although the foreign women intendto return “home”. The objective of practically all (96.34%) the women who intend toreturn to their country of origin is to first accumulate sufficient savings, while only2.44% intend to obtain a degree. 1.22% of these women have mixed objectives thatrange from a combination of savings and professionalism to a combination of savingsand a degree for their children.

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Most of the women interviewed (69.84%) live with one or two other people. In somecases this is the classic family of a couple with a child; in others it is the model of acaregiver looking after an elderly person or an elderly couple, while in yet others womenshare a flat with female acquaintances and friends. 5.56% of the women live alone, whilenearly 24% share a flat with four or more people. In nearly half the cases (42.40%), theyshare their living space with family members, while 39.20% of women live with theItalian family for which they work. The rest share their flat with compatriots, friends,colleagues or a combination of all these.

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74.65% of the women interviewed who live in a place that does not belong to thefamily for which they work rent a flat, while 22.54% own a house or flat; the property isnot individual but is often family-owned. Rents are in line with the market in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area, ranging from a minimum of 200 euros to a maximum of

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over 600 euros. In the metropolitan area under consideration, as in other Europeancities, there is a tendency to rent or sell flats to foreigners on floors within the buildingthat are less popular with Italians, although one cannot really call this actualsegregation. 0.79% of the women interviewed say they live in an independent house and7.14% live on the ground floor or mezzanine floor. More than 50% of respondents livebetween the first and the third floor (23.81% on the first floor, 23.02% on the secondfloor and 15.87% on the third floor respectively), while 12.70% live on the fourth floorand a mere 3.17% on the fifth floor. The percentage goes up to 3.97% when we move tothe seventh or higher floors. With average occupancy of 1.2 person per flat the areaappears to be sufficiently large, as there are 2.67 rooms on average per flat, kitchen andbathroom excluded. Nearly 8% of the women interviewed say they live in places with asingle room, 32.54% in two rooms, 42.06% in three-room flats and 10.32% in four-roomflats. 3.17% say they live in housing with more than four rooms.

Housing is occupied for three years on average. Considering that the average length ofstay in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area is five years, it would appear that there issome amount of residential mobility and hence some amount of housing change.27.78% of the women interviewed say they have been living in their housing for notmore than a year, 17.46% from one to two years, 15.08% from two to three years and23.81% from three to five years. 13.49% say they have lived in the same house for overfive years. Nearly 60% of the women interviewed say they previously lived elsewhere inthe metropolitan area under consideration.

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The lack of ownership of a means of transport also points to the financial difficultiesof these foreign women. Only 22.22% of the respondents say they own a car, whilenearly 4% say they have a motorcycle or moped. 53.13% of the women who have noindependent means of transport say they get around by bus. 20.83% of them walk,nearly 12% walk or take the bus, nearly 9% use a bicycle and the rest use a combination(trams, trains, the underground etc).

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Considering the degree classification in their countries of origin, the level ofeducation is quite high: 50% of the women interviewed say they have a high schooldiploma, and nearly 18% have a degree. Fewer than 2% of respondents say they have aprimary school diploma, while nearly 28% have a secondary school diploma. Few ofthese foreign women are aware of the fact that their educational qualifications are notrecognised in Italy. In fact, nearly all of them believe the qualification obtained in theircountry of origin is equivalent to an Italian qualification. However, there is a strongconviction on their part that their educational qualifications in no way correspond tothe work they do: more than 70% of respondents say so. This figure should make thepublic authorities and social workers reflect on the need to inform migrant women ofthe real possibilities and potential that Italy offers them.

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The occupational profile of the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area is typical of non-specialised mature economies. More than two-thirds of the respondents — 68.25% —work in the domestic help sector as babysitters, maids or caregivers. Only 3.17% ofrespondents say they have independent jobs in the commerce or handicraft sectors;nearly 4% say they are salespersons and 7.14% are housewives. Less than 1% of thewomen interviewed are industrial workers and just over 7% work as waitresses, cooks orkitchen help in the catering sector. The job scenario that emerges thereforedemonstrates a clear predominance of households over businesses in the demand forfemale foreign workers. This is the sign of an aging society, but also of a wealthy societyin which Italian women are no longer willing to play the traditional roles of wives,mothers and daughters and prefer to work in well-paying sectors. The migrant women’sjobs do not correspond, as far as they are concerned, to their professional skills. In fact,nearly 55% of respondents say that non-manual jobs would correspond to their skills: a

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desk job (for 15.08%), a self-employed or intellectual profession (for 19.84%) or a job inthe health sector (for 11.90%) or as a laboratory technician (for 7.94%). Only 6.35% saythe job that would suit their skills is that of a worker and 15.87% say they know how todo manual work (shop assistant, waitress or cook). None of the respondents mentionsbabysitter, maid or caregiver as one of the jobs for which she is qualified. The workingsituation of the women interviewed has worsened with their arrival in Italy: nearly 24%of them were self-employed professionals and nearly 8% of the women were engaged inentrepreneurial activity at home. Nearly all (96.30%) of the women who work are insalaried employment and 54% of these are fixed-term contracts. Nearly 60% of thewomen work full-time. Nearly 93% of the women interviewed work in the servicessector, in particular personal services. Nearly 7% work in the commerce sector and lessthan 1% in industry. Nearly 57% of the women interviewed say there are people whodepend on their income in their country of origin: children (in 55.22% of cases), parents(in 22.39% of cases), siblings (in 2.99% of cases), the spouse (in 2.99% of cases) or acombination of these relations, the most common being spouse and children (in 5.97%of cases), spouse, children and parents (in 4.48% of cases) and children and parents (in5.97% of cases).

The level of social integration of Eastern European women in the Chieti-Pescarametropolitan area is good and could facilitate their overall integration. More than 50%of the women say their friends include compatriots and Italians (38.40%) orcompatriots, Italians and other foreigners (13.60%). Only 3.20% say they have onlyItalian friends, while a substantial number, albeit not a majority (44.80%) onlyassociate with their compatriots. The usual meeting places are very different: hometakes precedence, with 23.02% of the women interviewed saying they meet their friendsat home, followed by public squares, where 20.63% of respondents meet their friends.Otherwise, respondents say their social life takes place in several locations: besides thehome or public squares as mentioned earlier, they meet in bars or at the station or gofor walks along the roads of the city.

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Although they keep in close touch with the country of origin, mainly through theirremittances, 73.02% of the women interviewed say no family member or friend fromtheir country of origin has ever visited them in Italy. Among the women who say theyhave had people visiting them — which could be called a flow of tourists — 71% say theyreceive a visit less than once a year, 21% at least once a year and 9% more than once ayear. When they arrive in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area, relatives and friendsstay in the women’s own lodgings or with other members of the extended family.

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The Eastern European women express varying needs. 24.8% need to find a place torent and 33.6% need to find a house to buy, from which one can in any case deduce thatthe majority of them are either satisfied with their current housing or do not have thefinancial means to move house. Many of them are dissatisfied with their jobs: 29.03%say they are looking for a job and 56.30% say they want to change jobs. 44.44% wouldlike to start their own business. There are several prerequisites for this: 20% ofrespondents say the pre-requisite is the availability of funds and 16.67% the availabilityof funds and training courses, while 30% would like to form part of an existingindependent business. As regards their personal needs, the foreign women tend to besomewhat reserved and wish to maintain their dignity: in fact, only 10.32% say theyneed social assistance and only 20.63% say they need medical assistance. However, 50%of respondents state a need for legal and administrative assistance. The listing of theirneeds offers a clear picture of actions the public authorities should put in place: (i)follow the Eastern European women in their job path, help them to find or change jobsand provide funds and training courses to help them to start independent businesses,(ii) satisfy their housing needs with public or rent-controlled housing and (iii) help

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4. Profiles of eastern european womenin chieti-pescara metropolitan area

4.1. Albanian women

4.2. Bulgarian women

them with administrative procedures, which may often seem lengthy and muddled topeople from outside Italy.

Wives. They came to Italy for reasons of family reunification with their husbands.They generally have a secondary or higher secondary school certificate. They work asdomestic help. They have two or more children. They live with their husbands andchildren, usually in fairly small rented accommodation. They do not require much byway of assistance. They would all like to change jobs. They mostly associate withcompatriots they meet in their lodgings. They have people dependent on them in theircountry of origin, generally their parents. Relatives and friends from the country oforigin visit them and stay in their houses. The Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area isgenerally the starting and final point of their migration path for the ones who wish toremain in Italy. For the others, the final objective is to return to Albania.

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Daughters. They came to Italy for reasons of family reunification, probably followingtheir mothers who came here to join their fathers. They go to primary, secondary orhigh school. They do not work because they are not in the working age. They live withtheir parents, usually in fairly small rented flats. They do not demonstrate the need forassistance. They associate with compatriots as well as Italians and other foreignerswhom they meet in public places, on the road, in squares or in bars.

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Young single adults. They came to Italy for their studies, usually at university. Theyhave a higher secondary school certificate. Some work to support themselves whilestudying while others do not. These are insecure jobs, usually as wait staff, and do notcorrespond to the degree they are obtaining in Italy. They live with friends in small flats.They have no special need of assistance. They would like to have or change jobs andoften wish to be self-employed. They associate with compatriots as well as Italians andother foreigners, whom they meet in public places, the street, the local square or in bars.In general they do not have anyone depending on them in their country of origin andthey do not receive visits from compatriots. The Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area isgenerally the final destination of their migration path and in general they have no desireto return to their country of origin.

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Adult women. They are middle-aged women who have come to Italy to work. Theyhave left their husband and children at home or are separated, divorced or widowed.They have left their country of origin to come to Italy but the Chieti-Pescarametropolitan area was not the first stop on their migration path. They are uncertainabout their future and wish to return home but will do so in the distant future, whenthey have accumulated future savings. The children depend on them and therefore partof their money is sent home. They share their living quarters and expenses withcompatriots. They have a higher education diploma but do menial jobs that do not

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4.3. Polish women

correspond to their studies. In general these are salaried jobs on a fixed-term contract.They are not aware of the legal value of their educational qualifications in Italy. Theyassociate with compatriots as well as Italians, whom they meet in public places and athome. They need to change their housing and their jobs. They need assistance,particularly medical and legal assistance. They would like to change jobs and wouldundertake an independent business activity if they had the funds to do so. The Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area is the final stop on their migration path. They have fewcontacts with the people who have remained in their country of origin, who do not cometo visit them.

Wives. They came to Italy together with their husbands to work. They have left theirchildren in their country of origin and constantly send their savings home to them. Theygenerally have a higher secondary school certificate. They work as domestic help or ascaregivers for the elderly. They usually live in fairly small rented flats. They have nospecial need of assistance. They plan to return to their country of origin once they haveaccumulated sufficient savings. All of them would like to change jobs. They associatewith compatriots as well as Italians, whom they meet in public places and in theirhomes. The Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area is generally the final stop on theirmigration path, which began in other Italian cities. They do not need either medical orsocial assistance, but they do need legal and administrative help.

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Adult women living with or married to Italians. These are quite young women, oftendivorced with children, who have left their country of origin in order to find work andreached the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area after a long migration path in Italy. Aftermeeting an Italian man, they have stopped working and become housewives. They havekept in touch with the people who have remained in Bulgaria and who come to visitthem, albeit rarely. They do not have dependent people to support and do not intend toreturn to their country of origin. They associate with compatriots and Italians whomthey meet in public places and at home. They do not need to find a job and have no needof any kind of public assistance. They would like to buy a house.

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Businesswomen. They are young single women who left their country of origin asteenagers to settle in Italy. They have no children or parents to support. Or they aremiddle-aged, divorced women who have left their children at home: the latter areindependent and do not need their help. They intend to return to their country of originas soon as they have accumulated sufficient savings. They run independent businessesthat they set up as a response to migratory flows: for example, they own estate agenciesor commercial services working mainly for immigrants. They have achieved enoughfinancial stability to be able to buy themselves a house and a car. They associate withcompatriots as well as Italians, in public places and at home. They have no needs and donot appear to require assistance of any kind. These are the kind of women thatmigration policies should try and attract; however, they could seriously undermine thecompetitiveness of Italian businesswomen.

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Married or single adult women. They are adult women who are no longer young,married, with the husband and children living in the country of origin. The childrendepend on their income, either because they are still small or because despite beingadults with a job, they do not have enough money to survive. Work is the sole reason forwhich they have left Poland and moved to the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area, onaverage three years ago and in any case not before 2000. All of them intend to return toPoland in the short term, within a year at most, after having accumulated sufficient

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4.4. Rumanian women

savings. They live with the Italian families for which they work as domestic help. Theydescribe themselves as tailors and nurses, only occasionally as caregivers for the elderly,and seem to have a somewhat reticent and dignified approach to the difficulty ofadmitting the menial nature of their jobs. None of them has had a previous job in theChieti-Pescara metropolitan area and nearly all of them have always lived with theircurrent family of employers. They do not have a car or a scooter ; they get around by busor on foot. They have the equivalent of a secondary school certificate and think their jobcorresponds to their level of education. They have contracts as salaried employees,generally fixed-term or full-time. They only associate with compatriots, whom theymeet in public places. In general they do not receive visits from friends or familymembers from Poland. They would like to live in a rented house or buy a house, changejobs and find a business that would hire them as partners.

Single adult women. They are divorced, widowed or unmarried women who live ontheir own. Some of them have children in Poland who depend on their mothers’ income,as their own income is not enough to live well on. On average, they left their country oforigin and arrived in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area less than three years ago. Thereason that led them to emigrate was the need to find work and they chose the areaunder consideration because of the job opportunities it offers. They intend to return toPoland in a very short time, in a year at most, a time frame they consider sufficient toaccumulate enough savings. They live with the Italian families for which they work asdomestics. Like their married compatriots, they find it difficult to identify with theirjobs and describe themselves as nurses, cooks and shop assistants, never as thedomestic help they actually are. None of them has changed job and only some of themhave moved house during their stay in the metropolitan area. They have no means ofpersonal transport ; they get around on foot, by bicycle or using public transport. Theyhave completed middle school studies (with a secondary or higher secondary certificate)and consider their education appropriate to the jobs they hold as salaried employees,almost always on full-time fixed-term contracts, in the personal services sector. Theyassociate exclusively with compatriots whom they meet in public places. They expressthe need for a new house, to rent or buy, and a new job, which they wish to change orcreate. Only some of them express the need for medical, social or legal assistance.

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Single adult women. They are divorced or separated women for the most part. Onlysome of them are married and have left their children and, in some cases, theirhusbands in the country of origin and moved to Italy in search of work. They chose theChieti-Pescara metropolitan area because of the presence of a community ofcompatriots and because of the availability of job opportunities. For most of them, thearea is their final destination. Some of them want to return to their country of origin assoon as they have set aside sufficient savings, while others prefer to remain in Italy. Thechildren and spouse they have left at home depend on their income and in some casesso do their parents. They work as caregivers and domestic help. Some of them live withthe families they work for while others share accommodation with compatriots. Ingeneral they have permanent, full-time employment contracts. They have a fairly lowincome, live in rented although not overcrowded apartments and own neither a car norany other means of transport. They have educational qualifications corresponding to asecondary school or higher secondary certificate. Some of them only associate withcompatriots while others also have Italian or other foreign friends. They usually meetthese friends in public places. Friends and relatives who have remained in the country

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4.5. Ukrainian women

of origin do not come to visit them. They do not demonstrate any specific need forsocial, medical or legal assistance. They do not need to move house or buy one, but theywould like to change jobs : in particular they would like to set up their own businessesand would do so if they had the funds, the possibility of attending specific trainingcourses and associates with whom to invest in the business.

Wives and partners. These are adult women who are married or live with theirpartners, with or without children. They live in the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan areawith their families. They have arrived in Italy in the past few years for reasons of familyreunification, having followed their husbands or come here in search of work. Theychose to move to the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area because of the presence of theirfamily or compatriots. They live in rented houses with their family members, in fairlyspacious apartments with independent heating systems. They are housewives or workas domestic help but their jobs are insecure. They have a secondary or higher secondaryeducation that does not correspond to the work they do. They do not have people in thecountry of origin who depend on their income. They associate with compatriots as wellas Italians and other foreigners, whom they usually meet in public places or in places ofworship. They have maintained contact with people in their country of origin whooccasionally come to visit them and stay with them in their homes. They express theneed to find or change jobs ; some wish to buy a house. They appear to have noparticular need of assistance.

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Young girls. Young girls who have left their country of origin to find a job in Italy.They have moved to the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area because there are good workopportunities and because they have friends. That metropolitan area is the finaldestination of their migration path and they do not intend to return to their country oforigin. They live with friends or with the Italian family for which they work. They do notown a car or other means of transport and get around on foot or using public transport.Their educational qualifications vary, ranging from secondary education to a universitydegree, but do not correspond to their jobs as domestic help or caregivers. They havepermanent, full-time salaried employment. They associate with compatriots as well asItalians, whom they meet in public places or at home. They would like to change jobsand would set up their own businesses if they had the money to do so and businesspartners. They do not express any need for assistance.

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Single adult women. These women are separated, divorced, widowed or unmarriedand have moved to Italy in search of job, often leaving their children at home. Some aremarried women who have left their husbands and children in their country of origin tomove to Italy to work. They have arrived in Italy at different stages but not in any casebefore 2000. In general, the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area was the first place theycame to in Italy and they have remained there. The main reasons for their choice of thisarea were the presence of a community of compatriots, friends or family members. Themetropolitan area is also considered the final destination, either for life or beforereturning home, a desire expressed mainly by women who are close to retirement age orhave left their children in their country of origin. Most of these women live with thefamilies for which they work as caregivers to the elderly or domestic help. Some of themlive with family members or friends, generally in inexpensive rented accommodation inthe more rundown parts of the metropolitan area. Hardly any of them owns a car orscooter and nearly all of them get around on foot or by bus. Their level of education ishigh, ranging from a higher secondary certificate to a university degree. They are aware

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Conclusions

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that their educational qualifications are not recognised by Italian law. They do menialwork : caring for the elderly, household help, babysitting. In general they have fixed-term, full-time employment. Nearly all of them have dependent family members in theircountry of origin : children, parents or a spouse. In Italy they associate with compatriotsas well as Italians, whom they meet in public places, in open-air locations, at home or inchurch. Almost none of them have family members or friends who visit in the course ofthe year. All these women express the need for legal and administrative assistance.Many of them say they would like to start a business if they had funds and businesspartners. Some (not the majority) say they wish to change job.

Wives. There are only a few married women living in the metropolitan area with theirhusbands and children. They came to Italy at different times, but not before 1998, forwork. They chose the Chieti-Pescara metropolitan area because of the presence of acommunity of compatriots and friends. All of them view the area as the final destinationof their migration and hardly any of them intends to return to her country of origin.They live with their family in houses they own or rent. The quality of their housing isnot particularly low, whether in terms of location within the city or the floor within theapartment complex. They have a middle-to-high level of education— higher secondaryschool certificate to university degree — and are aware their qualifications are notrecognised in Italy. They do menial work as caregivers for the elderly and domestic help.They are salaried employees with either fixed-term or permanent contracts, generallypart-time. In some cases their income also goes to support their parents who haveremained in the country of origin. They associate with compatriots as well as Italians,whom they meet in public places and at home. They all say they need legal andadministrative assistance but none of them requires social or medical help. Some wouldset themselves up in business if they had the funds and business partners. Many ofthem would like to change job.

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This essay has outlined the characteristics of Eastern European women in a region ofCentral-Adriatic Italy. Most of these women travel alone, often fleeing problematicfamily situations, and often leave their children in their country of origin. They have afairly high level of education but their qualifications are not recognised in Italy, wherethey take up menial jobs as domestic help. Many of them intend to remain in Italy,although most of them intend to return to their country of origin, especially after havingsaved enough money. The survey did not reveal the presence of transnational migrationas such, although the women maintain contact with their community of origin. In themetropolitan area analysed, they tend to recreate national communities while showingwillingness to associate with people of other nationalities as well as Italians. The hostsociety is quite welcoming, or not hostile at any rate, and encourages them to stay.

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Pour citer cet article

Référence électroniqueArmando Montanari et Barbara Staniscia1 , « Female Migration in a Changing World. EasternEuropeans in Central Italy », Espace populations sociétés [En ligne], 2009/2 | 2009, mis enligne le 01 avril 2011, consulté le 15 mai 2013. URL : http://eps.revues.org/index4784.html

Auteurs

Armando MontanariSapienza Università di RomaDipartimento di studi europei e InterculturaliPiazzale Aldo Moro, 500185 Roma [email protected]

Barbara Staniscia1Sapienza Università di RomaDipartimento di studi europei e InterculturaliPiazzale Aldo Moro, 500185 Roma [email protected]

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Female Migration in a Changing World. Eastern Europeans in Central Italy

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