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Two years later: assimilation process of children of immigrants in Italy

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Abstract

Using two-wave panel data drawn from the Itagen2 Survey, we analyse the assimilation process of a sample of 11–13-year-old children of immigrants enrolled in Italian junior high schools, comparing them to children whose parents are both Italian. In seeking to adapt the traditional segmented assimilation theory to the Italian context, and using a dynamic and multidimensional approach, we consider four aspects: linguistic preferences, scholastic performance, friendship with peers, and sense of belonging in Italy. We synthesize a crude index of assimilation level, analyse its changes in a 2-year period and define its main determinants. The results demonstrate that generation status (place of birth of the children and of their parents, and length of stay) and the family’s socio-economic condition are closely related to assimilation level. These findings provide information useful for a better understanding of these children and their way of life.

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Notes

  1. Rumbaut (1997) has stressed the importance of the age of arrival in the country of settlement. This indication has been adapted to the available data, substituting the age of arrival in Italy, a question not included in the questionnaire, with similar information on the length of stay.

  2. The G2.5 group (the children of mixed couples, slightly <20 % of children of immigrants) is very particular: in some ways similar to G2 (the children of immigrants born in Italy), for others to G3 (the children of Italians), for others to G1.75 or G1.5 (the children of immigrants born abroad), especially when they arrived in Italy a few years ago. These results fully justify having considered the G2.5 as a separate group, which will be the subject of a further study, considering carefully—in particular—the sex, place of origin and job of the foreign parent, and the sex and job of the Italian parent (Gabrielli et al. 2013).

  3. Also interesting is the analysis of the determinants of each dimension of the assimilation level. This study has already been carried out using information from the first wave of Itagen2 in Gabrielli et al. (2013). The aim of the paper was not to define the typology of their assimilation into Italian society, but only to measure if and how children of Italians and children of immigrants have similar perceptions of linguistic abilities, friendships with peers, and sense of belonging in Italy. The analysis reveals that after just a few years of living in their new country, the large majority of children of immigrants feel Italian, claim to speak Italian well, and have a number of Italian friends. However, this positive result is reduced when the children of immigrants have recently arrived in Italy, the economic condition and social capital of their families are poor, their scholastic performances are unsatisfactory, and their parents come from particular countries: mainly China, the Philippines, former Yugoslavia and Peru.

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  1. Department of Political Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Rodinò 22/a, 80138, Napoli, Italy

    Anna Paterno & Giuseppe Gabrielli

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  1. Anna Paterno
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  2. Giuseppe Gabrielli
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Gabrielli.

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Paterno, A., Gabrielli, G. Two years later: assimilation process of children of immigrants in Italy. J Pop Research 31, 29–50 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-014-9124-6

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