Out of context? The effect of deep-rooted cultural traits on the transition to adulthood among the Italian second generations in France

Roberto Impicciatore, Università degli Studi di Milano

Several studies tried to evaluate the effect of cultural traits such as familism on demographic behaviours but the estimated effects may be biased by the different context, mainly in terms of welfare and legislation. An interesting strategy in order to disentagle the effect of of long term cultural factors from the influence given by the legislative and structural context takes into account international migrations and in particular the characteristics of second generations of migrants, i.e. individuals born and grown in the country of arrival but influenced by a different cultural background. In this paper we focus on demographic behaviors of the Italian's second generations in France. Relevant differences emerge between Italian G2 and autochthones, in particular among women and cohorts born after the Second World War. Therefore, our results are in contrast with the hypothesis that the familistic perspective is entirely due to the Welfare and the institutional setting. On the other hand, they indicate the persistence of deep-rooted cultural developed in Italy during the parent’s childhood and transmitted to their children born and growth in a foreign country.