The role of gender in the South European immigration model

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contextualise female migration into Southern Europe within the specificities of the Southern European model of immigration. Very different from the intra-European labour migrations of the 1950s and 1960s, when the Southern European countries were themselves suppliers of labour migrants, this new South European immigration model comprises a number of key features such as heterogeneity of migrant source countries (especially true for Italy and Spain), the dynamic role of the informal economy, a heavy concentration of immigrant employment in the tertiary sector, and the highly segmented structure of labour demand into which different ethnic and gender groups find niche opportunities. Particularly relevant for the role of immigrant women in this setting are the social changes affecting the position of South European women both in the labour market and in the home and family contexts. Although the article is mainly concerned with the above theoretical issues, reference will also be made to a sample of empirical studies on immigrant women, especially in Italy.