The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Foreigners in the Italian Labour Market

Abstract

This paper sets out to evaluate the effects of the economic crisis on foreign workers in Italy. Unlike other countries, in Italy the number of foreign workers has increased during the crisis. Taking the relative measures into account, it is evident that the crisis has affected male foreigners more than Italian workers. The longitudinal data of the Labour Force Survey allow the labour market transitions before and during the employment crisis to be taken into consideration. These data show that the crisis has mainly hit male workers, and in particular foreigners. The application of multinomial logistic regression models to employment transitions shows that, maintaining structural variables under control, the penalisation of foreigners has not changed during the crisis. This is certainly due to the specific impact of the crisis on the Italian economy, but also the structural role that foreigners play in the labour market.