Abstract

The article presents a research on access to welfare for “new Italian migrantsµ, carried out between 2015 and 2018 in Frankfurt and Leeds. It analyses evidence from interviews collected in relation to three issues: residence, healthcare services, and social benefits. The findings of the research show how access to welfare is increasingly connected to work and residence in the country of destination. These patterns make life increasingly difficult for the poorest segment of Italian migrants, who, especially in the first phase of the migration process, cannot rely on social support. With regard to healthcare services, the tendency to maintain residence in Italy prevails in order both to continue benefitting from Italian National Health Service care provisions, and, in Germany, to avoid paying for the health insurance in the early stage. In the case of subsidies, a tendency is observed not to apply for them in order not to suffer negative labelling and to avoid the sanctioning mechanisms of workfare.