Eralba Cela

Giving from the Heart or from the Ego? Motives behind Remittances of the Second Generation in Europe.

The aim of this article is to investigate the remittance behavior of host country-born children of migrants – the second generation – in various European cities. We address the following question: Are second-generation remitters driven more by altruism or by self-interest? Data from “The Integration of the European Second Generation” (TIES) survey are utilized and encompass individuals with at least one migrant parent from Morocco, Turkey, or former Yugoslavia. Using logistic models, we test different classical theories on microeconomic determinants of remittances and add some additional expectations for the second generation. The results show that those second-generation Moroccans, Turks, and former Yugoslavs who send money are motivated by two main reasons: Emotional attachment to their parents’ home country (altruism motive) or to pay people who look after their investments or other material assets that are likely to be part of their preparation for “returning” (self-interest – exchange motive). These two motives are not necessarily exclusive: As part of a well-prepared return, to integrate easily once back “home,” it is not only relevant to ensure that people take care of ones investments and other material assets, but also to strengthen social ties and be well informed about the situation in the country of origin. This interpretation fits closely with the return model, which deserves more attention in the theoretical literature on remittances.

Being lonely later in life: a qualitative study among Albanians and Moroccans in Italy

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the social wellbeing of older migrants in Italy, an important yet neglected topic in the Italian political and scholarly debate. Knowledge about the lived experience of loneliness and its perceived causes was gathered by means of 34 in-depth interviews with Albanian and Moroccan migrants aged 50 and above living in the Marche region. Our findings show that the participants are surrounded by family and are largely satisfied with the contact they have with relatives; this protects them from social isolation but not from loneliness. Although they rarely express this to their spouse and friends (men) or their children (men and women), feelings of loneliness are widely experienced among the participants. The root of their loneliness largely relates to a lack of meaningful relationships with non-related age peers – having a chat, remembering old times, socialising with others when family members are busy, talking about intimate matters they cannot or will not share with relatives – which supports the argument of loneliness scholars that different types of relationships serve different functions and fulfil different needs. Having more contact with people outside the family circle, especially with co-ethnic peers, could reduce these feelings of loneliness substantially, but factors such as discrimination and lack of Italian language proficiency, free time, financial resources and nearby contact facilities are hindrances. These factors offer clues for public loneliness interventions.

Demography of Race and Ethnicity in Italy

Italy is among the countries with a “colour-blind” approach: during Fascism, the 1938 race Italian legislation, openly discriminated against Jews and Roma. In the post-WWII period, discourses about race and ethnicity (“razza” in Italian) became a taboo. Nevertheless, race is mentioned in Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, where equality of citizens is stated. The Italian Constitution, not only guarantees equality of citizens but also establishes a “positive clause” (Article 3.2) in order to “remove those obstacles of economic or social nature which constrain the freedom of equality of citizens”. In addition, Article 6 recognizes and protects historic linguistic minorities. The term ethnic is therefore not used in the Constitution for the obvious above-mentioned reasons. According to the last population Census, the most numerous are the “Sardo”, a language spoken for the most part by inhabitants of the Sardinia islands (over one million), the “German” (about 350,000), the “Slovenian” (about 60,000) and the “French” (about 70,000). Ethno-racial statistics are not permitted in Italy, apart from the specific case of those historic ethno-linguistic minorities guaranteed by the Constitution and law. Therefore, in the Italian census, race and ethnicity are identified with proxies: citizenship, place of birth, former citizenship for Italians and citizenship of parents (the latter since the last Census of 2011). Data on religion and language is not collected in the Census. The only exception is data on language of ethno-linguistic historical minorities.

Contrasts in ageing and agency in family migratory contexts: a comparison of Albanian and Latvian older migrants

Focusing on the experiences of migration of older people, the chapter makes a unique comparison between two small post-socialist countries, Albania and Latvia. In-depth interviews with Latvian older women in the UK, and with ‘left-behind’ older people in Albania and Albanian migrants in Greece and Italy, reveal marked contrasts in their agency as regards their movements and livelihoods, and in their patterns of giving and receiving care. Latvian older women achieve economic salvation, personal independence, and an enhanced sense of self-worth through migration. Albanian older people’s movements and livelihoods are tightly enmeshed within, even controlled by, their children’s migration. These different migration patterns and outcomes are set against contrasting home-country backgrounds of patrilinearity in Albania and post-socialist neoliberalism and economic crisis in Latvia.

Ukrajinski migranti u europskoj uniji: Komparativna studija češke republike i Italije

This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of links between personal characteristics and remittance behavior as well as to investigate the determinants of integration and to validate the remittance decay hypothesis in the target country for Ukrainian migrants in the Czech Republic and Italy. Our research attempts to answer a number of novel research questions by determining whether some personal attributes could be attached to Ukrainian labor migrants in the EU and their families in Ukraine. Our findings show that migration characteristics of one ethnic group or nation reveal the same patterns regardless of the target country. It appears that remittance behav** Corresponding author Sociologija i prostor, 52 (2014) 199 (2): 141-166 142 S o c i o l o g i j a i p r o s t o r ior of Ukrainian migrants in the Czech Republic and Italy is significantly determined by their financial situation, demographic characteristics, level of human capital and level of integration as well as specific context characteristics. Moreover, our findings provide evidence for the fact that those Ukrainian migrants who are more settled in a target country tend to send fewer or no remittances back to their home country.

Ageing in a multicultural Europe: perspectives and challenges

Ageing is the key demographic trend in Europe. Migration is the second major phenomenon shaping European population structure, introducing a further dimension to the ageing challenge, namely, ageing populations with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of ageing migrants is surprisingly understudied.