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

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.