Five million immigrants live legally in the country, producing 11% of GDP
With five million regular immigrants in Italy, the country should seriously think of ways of making best use of these resources without considering them a problem.
While a previous report by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) revealed that at the beginning of 2010, there were 4,2 million immigrant residents in the country, the latest Statistical Dossier on Immigration published by Caritas/Migrantes shows that the actual number is 4,9 million, taking into consideration all regular immigrants who have not yet registered with the Registry Offices of the City Councils.
According to the Dossier, Romanians continue to be the biggest immigrant community in the country with a population of 890,000 residents, representing 21% of the immigrant population. Albanians come second with 470,000 residents (11%), followed by Moroccans with 430,000 residents (10,2%).
The other big communities are the Chinese with 190,000 residents (4,4%) and Ukrainians with 170,000 residents (4,1%).
Lombardy is the Region hosting the highest number of immigrant residents (982,225, representing 23,2%), followed by Lazio (497,940, 11,8%). Veneto comes third with 480,616 residents (11,3%) while Emilia Romagna is fourth with 461,321 residents (10,9%).
There are almost a million foreign minor children in Italy, more than half born in the country. Some 670,000 foreign minor children go to Italian schools, representing 7,5% of the total pupil population. These figures show the need of changing the rules to grant citizenship to minor children born and living in the country.
When it comes to work, it emerges that 10% of employees are immigrants while 3,5% of immigrants own firms. The Dossier shows that firms created by immigrants provide employment to both Italians and immigrants. By May this year, they owned 213,267 firms.
It emerges very clearly that immigrants contribute a great deal to the country’s economic growth. While they are only 7% of the national population, immigrants produce 11% of Italy’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The Dossier reveals that the social security contributions and taxes immigrants pay amount to 11 billion Euros every year, yet the services they receive in return amount to 10 billion Euros.
And that’s not all. Immigrant workers make a great contribution to the social security institutions, especially to the Italian National Social Security Institute (INPS). Their contributions have in fact helped INPS to keep its accounts in order. Without immigrants, the Italian pension system would face serious problems. Every year, immigrants contribute 7,5 billion Euros to INPS yet very few have reached pension age. Most immigrants in Italy are quite young, with only 2,2% over 65 years old.
Financial crisis, the Dossier shows, has seriously affected immigrant workers. Between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of jobless immigrants rose from 8,5% to 11,2%.
The Dossier challenges Italians to change the way they view immigrants. It asks if immigrants who contribute 11% of the GDP should continue to be seen as a problem or part of the solution to the country’s problems.
Without immigrant workers, sectors such as agriculture, construction, industry, family care, and many others no longer attractive to Italians would go on tilt.
Last year, the Transatlantic Trends Immigration survey revealed that 50% of Europeans and 54% of Americans described immigration as “more of a problem”. The Dossier asks: can the people needed be considered a problem?
Mr. Franco Pittau, coordinator of the Statistical Dossier on Immigration says the future of Italy without immigrant workers is inconceivable, adding that the country needs immigrant workers. He says their research revealed that immigrants are not competing for the same jobs with Italians. Four out of 10 immigrants do jobs they are overqualified for, usually working at odd hours (in the evenings, at night or on Sundays), but they earn less than Italians, Mr. Pittau says. The average monthly salary of an immigrant is 971 Euros, which is 23% less than that of an Italian.
The latest figures about immigrants in Italy should trigger a serious reflection about their place in the society. “Every day 70 Italians marry foreign citizens, 163 foreigners become Italian citizens, 211 babies are born of immigrant parents, one out of 14 residents is an immigrant, and one out of ten jobless people is an immigrant,” Mr. Pittau says.
He says there is need of rectifying the wrong and partial information about immigrants, while at the same time urging Italians to overcome prejudices against immigrants. The country needs a new mentality, Mr. Pittau says.
He calls for effective integration policies, adding that integration of immigrants requires increased resources. Above all, Mr. Pittau says, integration requires openness towards immigrants, with knowledge that they are indispensable in sustaining Italy’s demographic growth.
The Dossier shows that immigrants could do more to support the development of Italy but the country’s rigid laws make it difficult for them to do so. The difficulty in obtaining a stable permit blocks their access to loans and mortgages, and limits their freedom of movement especially to other EU countries.
The six month period given to immigrants who become jobless to find another job before losing their right to live legally in the country is too short especially in this period of crisis, the Dossier shows.
Mr. Pittau advises immigrants not to isolate themselves but to actively participate in the life of the host society, to respect its rules and share in its objectives. Immigrants also have a right to be welcomed, respected and valued, he says.
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