Unemployed Migrants Coping with the Economic Crisis. Romanian and Moroccan workers in Italy

The current economic crisis is worsening migrants’ living conditions and thus their social and economic integration into EU countries. However, recent literature has not sufficiently considered the strategies that unemployed migrants adopt to cope with this transformation. This article explores the economic and social impact of the recession on migrant workers. In particular, it analyses the coping strategies of unemployed Moroccan and Romanian migrants in Italy, who are the biggest national groups of foreigners. Drawing on 170 in-depth interviews carried out in one of the most dynamic areas of northeast Italy, we find that Moroccan and Romanian migrants adopt different strategies in order to cope with unemployment: the first suffer more from discrimination than the latter in the labour market but can enjoy the economic and social support of extended family and religious community, while for Romanians, it is easier to find a new job, because they can rely on a more diversified social network. Furthermore, migrants of both national groups rarely return to their country of origin, but Moroccans (non-EU nationals) seem to be geographically more mobile than Romanians (EU nationals), who show a resolve to remain in Italy. Finally, unemployed migrants are minimizing their living costs in a very similar way. This paper also studies other differences among interviewees that arise from their gender, age and family model.