Trade off tra occupazione e qualità del lavoro. Uno studio sui principali gruppi di immigrati in Italia = Trade-off between employment and job quality. A study on the main immigrant groups in Italy

Italy is a typical case of the Southern European model of immigrants’ labour market integration, characterised by a trade-off between a low ethnic penalty in terms of employment and a high ethnic penalty in terms of job quality. This work studies whether the trade-off between employment and job quality applies differently to the five main groups of immigrants in Italy, namely Romanians, Albanians, Moroccans, Chinese, and Ukrainians. It asks a) if and to what extent these groups follow the main typical model of immigrants’ labour market inclusion in Italy, and b) if this model changes over years spent in the host country. Using data from the Italian Labour Force Survey (2009- 2020), results show remarkable heterogeneity in the degree of ethnic penalty across ethnic origins and genders. Some groups follow the Southern European model (Romanians and Ukrainians), whereas others are penalized on both employment and job quality (Moroccan women) and others are fully integrated in the Italian labour market (Chinese and, to a lower extent, Albanian men). Models of immigrants’ occupational inclusion also change over time spent in the host country. Most immigrants move towards a more favourable model over time (e.g., Albanians and Moroccans), although some groups remain trapped in the lowest positions of the labour market (e.g., Romanians and Ukrainians).