Mixed Marriages: The Italian Case Study

Abstract

The research objective that we want to explore concerns the phenomenon of mixed marriages in Italy. Indeed, in the last years (especially from EU enlargement in 2007), Italian territory is characterized, for its geographical and cultural position, to be one of the European countries with the largest number of foreign residents: suffice it to say that from 2008 to 2016 the increase is equal to +46.4 percentage points. To this purpose, through secondary data analysis from National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) database, we examine the unions between couples formed by both foreign citizens or by a immigrant and an autochthonous in Italy from 2008 to 2016 focusing the attention on following four specific variables: area of origin, educational level, type of rite and type of marriage. In conclusion, this phenomenon is particularly relevant because it allows to look into the state of integration and inclusion of foreign presence in Italy.