Immigration: the turning point of the 1990s. – The trend line of demographic evolution began to undergo alterations in the early 1990s. Two factors have had a particular impact: a) the intensification of non-European immigration towards the EEC area, the consistency of which has caused a sudden social perception of the importance of the phenomenon and of the potential, considerable implications it could acquire; b) immigration from former Communist countries to the West, caused by the serious economic and political crises that have upset a large part of Balkan Europe, Central Europe and the former Soviet area.
As for the composition of non-EU immigrants in Italy, in the early 1990s it was estimated that there were 425,000 men and 250,000 women. Male immigrants came mainly from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt. Almost all of the women who worked as domestic workers came from Somalia, Eritrea, Thailand, the Philippines, the Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius and Seychelles.
By number of non-EU immigrants, Italy it was in fifth place in the ranking of EEC countries. Furthermore, the incidence of these contributions on the national population was among the lowest in the Community area. Nonetheless, while a wave of xenophobia began to rise in several countries, especially in France and Germany, the social perception of the problem was also heightened in I: the lack of appropriate regulation was complained of guaranteeing the control of inflows., an appropriate treatment of immigrants was invoked and the certainty that they would settle on the national territory only where there was a concrete prospect of work. It was also evident that, due to insufficient control of the phenomenon by the public administration, official statistics were suspected of producing an underestimate of the presence of immigrants on the national territory. In this context, two problems acquired particular importance: on the one hand, the bad environmental conditions in which groups without resources and looking for any kind of job found themselves; on the other hand, the risk that these groups would dramatically increase the phenomenon of ” undeclared work ” and were recruited by organized crime for criminal labor, for example. for drug dealing. on the other hand, the risk that these groups would dramatically increase the phenomenon of ” undeclared work ” and were recruited by organized crime for criminal labor, for example. for drug dealing. on the other hand, the risk that these groups would dramatically increase the phenomenon of ” undeclared work ” and were recruited by organized crime for criminal labor, for example. for drug dealing.
The government dealt with these problems with the Legislative Decree 416 of 1989, converted into l. 39/1990, known as the ” Martelli law ” from the name of the proposing minister. The provision, which was the subject of considerable debates and did not cease to arouse controversy even in the period following its enactment, established some fundamental principles: a) non-EU citizens can enter Italy for “reasons of tourism, study, subordinate work or self-employment, care, family and worship “; b) by October 30 of each year “the planning of entry flows into Italy for work reasons for non-EU foreigners and their socio-cultural integration” is defined; c) within the same term is defined “the program of social and economic interventions aimed at favoring the socio-cultural integration of foreigners, the maintenance of cultural identity and the right to study and housing”; d) the quotas of immigrants are determined by the government taking into account the needs of the national economy, the financial resources and structures available to ensure adequate reception, requests for residence permits and the state of international relations and obligations.
It is evident that the law has established socially and ethically appropriate criteria, but not easy to translate into practice, especially in large parts of the South and the islands, where the fabric of public administration is weaker and the economic context is precarious. In particular, it is difficult to develop programs for a satisfactory socio-cultural integration of the immigrant and, at the same time, to guarantee the protection of cultural identity and the right to housing.
While political decision-making centers, trade unions and humanitarian organizations were tackling the problem of immigration from African and Asian areas, the prospect of having to welcome immigrants from the former communist area also loomed on the horizon. In fact, in 1990 and 1991 flows of immigrants arrived in Italy from Albania asking for political asylum: the first flows were accepted and laboriously entered the Italian community; instead the flows of 1991, which gave rise to dramatic events (August 1991), for the most part were sent back to Albania because the conditions of political refugee did not exist. In the same period, the war between the Yugoslav republics prompted the Italy to offer hospitality to immigrants from Croatia, subjected to destruction by the Yugoslav federal troops. However, during the 1990s, it could be the serious economic crisis that devastated the Soviet Union that struck the Soviet Union the most on the geography of immigration in some parts of the EEC, including Italy for its part in the throes of political disintegration. It has been estimated that, depending on the seriousness of the events that, during the 1990s, will afflict central and eastern Europe, including the former Soviet space up to the Urals, up to 10 million immigrants could flow into the EEC area. For other data, see starting in 1991, it upset the Soviet Union, which for its part was in the throes of political disintegration. It has been estimated that, depending on the seriousness of the events that, during the 1990s, will afflict central and eastern Europe, including the former Soviet space up to the Urals, up to 10 million immigrants could flow into the EEC area. For other data, see starting in 1991, it upset the Soviet Union, which for its part was in the throes of political disintegration. It has been estimated that, depending on the seriousness of the events that, during the 1990s, will afflict central and eastern Europe, including the former Soviet space up to the Urals, up to 10 million immigrants could flow into the EEC area. For other data, see immigration, in this Appendix.
Active population. – During the seventies and, even more, in the eighties the transformation of the workforce was accentuated. At the 1951 demographic census 42.2% of the active population worked in agriculture; at the 1990 census the share was reduced to 8.3%. This decrease, which proceeded rapidly especially during the 1960s, was followed by a constant and consistent increase in the active population in industry during the 1950s and 1960s: the population of this sector increased from 32.1% (1951) 40.6% (1961) and 44.4% (1971). Subsequently, the industrial population decreased. The fundamental causes were the decay that affected the entire apparatus of the basic industry after the crisis in the oil market and the effects of the international division of labor. In the tertiary sector, on the other hand, the active population has always increased its percentage weight: 27.5% in 1951, 30.3% in 1961, 38.4% in 1971 and 49.4% in 1981. Over the years In the 1980s, the process has not only increased but has also intensified. This growth, however, went through two different phases: in the first phase, up to the 1970s, the percentage increase in the tertiary population took place together with the increase in the industrial population and manifested itself as a side process to the industrialization of country; in the second phase, which begins in the seventies, the growth in the weight of the population employed in the service sector is not only connected to the decline of industrial sectors that were once driving forces, but also has an autonomous face. In fact, in recent years the computerization of economic activities and essential social functions has been fully developed, so that a growing share of the population employed in the tertiary sector is made up of professions linked, directly or indirectly, to this social division of labor. profoundly changed: it is one of the most striking effects of the transformation of Italian society.
The changes in professional structures, testimony of new social changes, need to be related to the participation of the three sectors of the economy in the GDP. In the early 1950s (1951 census) primary activities (agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining, etc.) provided 24% of the gross product, while forty years later they provided just 4%. At the beginning of the nineties, industry contributed to the formation of GDP less than forty years earlier: 33% in 1991 against 36% in 1951. The service sector, on the other hand, had a growing participation: 40% in 1951, 46 % in 1961, 51% in 1971, 53% in 1981 and 63% in 1990.
