The article offers to describe the main lines of the question of the working poor, dealing with some interpretations, identifying different perspectives and drawing attention to some important elements of analysis chosen from the literature on the subject. The research examined shows the complexity and multidimensional nature of the phenomenon. It is the co-presence of several risk factors, at micro and macro level, that generates working poverty both directly and indirectly. Finally, the article argues for the social significance and great relevance of the subject and suggests it be made a specific object of empirical research.only subscribers can see the full article

The author examines in this paper four interconnected issues: the ambivalent nature of work flexibility, which on the one hand makes work more precarious yet on the other seems to give greater opportunities for professional growth; the increasing «social recognition» of non occupational activities such as care or voluntary work; and, as a consequence, the prospects of a realignment between working and life times and the requirement for a new organisation of the protection system to provide answers to old as well as new risks and opportunities.only subscribers can see the full article

Unofficial immigration is difficult to define precisely as it depends on national legislation, which in turn differs from country to country and is often ambiguous. It has many different causes: the attractions of economic systems and labour markets; the institutional creation of illegality by regulatory systems that raise the necessary requirements for legal entry and for staying in the country; the lack of necessary resources if repressive policies are to be more effective; the “liberal obligation” requiring democratic states to respect human rights and welcome refugees; the action of humanitarian lobbies; the bypassing of the rules and the favouring of entries by the networks of relatives and fellow-countrymen. Despite all the rhetoric, this makes necessary manoeuvres of various kinds designed to bring out the hidden part of the immigrant population: 23 out of 27 countries in the European Union have adopted them in the last ten years and at least 5 million people have regularized their status.only subscribers can see the full article

The incidence of immigrants on Italian population is still slight compared with other European countries and is far below the Eu average, yet there has been a considerable rise in recent years. The paper analyses the composition of the immigrant population and the transformations that took place due to the latest regularisation sanctioned by the «Bossi-Fini Law». The authors analyse the changes that have occurred in this context, in particular, the shift in the geographic axis of migrations - with an increase in immigration from Eastern countries, the considerable growth in female immigration, the rise in immigrant stabilisation processes in Italian society, evident, above all, in the labour market.only subscribers can see the full article