ROMA – The growing scale of the migratory phenomenon in the new millennium and the rooting in Italy of an immigrant population that is on average young – writes Raffaella Saso, deputy director of Eurispes – are at the origin, among other things, of the constant increase in the number of mixed marriages in our country. Since 2000, the formation of family units and intercultural couples has constantly increased, demonstrating the fact that the migratory phenomenon, also in our country, now shows a tendency towards rooting and stable social integration.
An increasingly multi-ethnic society. A path towards an increasingly multi-ethnic Italian society, as already consolidated in other European nations. In Italy, as a consequence of immigration, in addition to the phenomenon of mixed couples, there has also begun to be the phenomenon of unions that Mara Tognetti Bordogna (2008) defines as “mixed mixed”: sentimental unions between two individuals with a different nationality between them and different from that of the country in which they reside.
A dramatic increase in intercultural unions. Mixed unions reached 15.6% of all marriages in 2022, +21% compared to 2021. According to Istat data, marriages with at least one foreign spouse reached 15.6% of all marriages in 2022 (+21.3% compared to 2021). Among these, mixed marriages with Italian citizens – Italian spouse and foreign spouse; foreign spouse and Italian spouse – are 20,678, 69.9% of marriages with at least one foreign spouse and 10.9% of all marriages celebrated in Italy during the year.
In ¾ of the cases he is Italian, she is foreign. Almost three-quarters of mixed marriages (15,138) are represented by couples with an Italian groom and a foreign bride, while 5,540 involve Italian brides and foreign grooms. Italian men marrying foreign women are much more numerous than Italian women marrying foreigners, a trend that has remained stable over the years.
The so-called “mixed mixed couples”. In marriages where both spouses are foreign, spouses with different citizenship are 1,325 (25.8%) (analysis of Istat data, 1996-2022). Mixed marriages with new citizens are also increasing: more than one mixed marriage in 10 involves an Italian bride or groom by acquisition. The incidence of marriages between spouses who are both Italian has instead constantly decreased from 95.7% in 1996, to 88.5% in 2010, up to 84.4% in 2022 (Istat data).
The geography of weddings and the foreign presence in Italy. More than one mixed marriage in 10 involves an Italian bride or groom by acquisition. The number of mixed marriages reflects the distribution of the foreign presence in the country. In the North and Center, one marriage in five involves at least one foreign groom, in the South and on the Islands the incidence stops at 8.9%. The Autonomous Province of Bolzano (27.9%) and Tuscany (23%) stand out for the highest incidence.
The origin of foreign spouses. In marriages with an Italian groom and a foreign bride a third of brides are originally from a European Union country, 27.9% from Central-Eastern Europe, 20.5% from Central-South America. Only 6.5% are of African origin; 8.2% of Asian origin. Instead, in weddings with a foreign groom and an Italian bride, a quarter of the husbands come from the EU (25.3%), over a fifth from North Africa (21.4%), 14.8% from Central-Eastern Europe and 12.3% from Central-South America. Asian spouses stop at 7.1%. Despite the non-negligible presence of immigrants of Asian origin, especially Chinese, this community remains more “closed”: Chinese marry fellow countrymen in 85% of cases (Istat data processed by Eurispes, Rapporto Italia 2024).
The incidence of marriages between Italians is decreasing. The incidence of marriages between spouses who are both Italian has dropped from 95.7% in 1996, to 88.5% in 2010, to 84.4% in 2022. In addition to mixed marriages celebrated in our country, since 2016 there have been civil unions between same-sex couples of different citizenships. Unions between people of the same sex with an Italian partner and a foreign partner amounted to 427 in 2022, equal to 15.2% of the total civil unions, of which 334 unions between men and 93 unions between women. Unions with at least one foreign partner are slightly more frequent in the Centre (20.5% of the total unions in the macro-geographical area), less so in the Islands (14.1%, with the lowest share in Sicily, 11.1%).
The percentage of citizenship acquisitions through marriage is decreasing. According to Istat data, the share of citizenship acquisitions by marriage has progressively decreased over the years. In fact, there is an increasing number of new Italian citizens among the spouses of mixed marriages. The foreigners who acquired Italian citizenship in 2022 were 213,716, 45.1% for residency, 46.1% for “other reasons” (in particular the transmission of status from parents to minor children), only 8.8% per marriage. In the North and Centre one marriage out of five involves at least one foreign spouse, in the South and on the Islands the incidence stops at 8.9%
The question of children born from mixed unions. When they are disputed by the parents it is among the thorniest and still open in the case of mixed unions. There are numerous cases that have become famous because they have been covered by the mass media, and which have told stories of minors in some cases removed or kidnapped by a parent to be taken back to their country of origin. As regards children, in fact, especially in the case of separation of the mixed couple, in the most problematic cases it can lead to international child abduction: in the first half of 2022 alone the Mae recorded 51 new cases (up from 29 in the same period of 2021), of which 30 in Europe, 15 in America, 3 in Asia and 3 in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Children smuggled abroad. It is estimated that there are about 300 children contested by their parents, illegally taken abroad from Italy (with reference only to the cases reported to the Ministry). However, taking into account the fact that most parents try to resolve the problem through lawyers specialized in the matter, the estimate should be at least doubled.
Few cases have been solved. The law on the subject, n. 64 of 1994, appears inadequate, our judicial system is too slow, the absence of a second level of judgment and of the immediate enforceability of the repatriation decree in the first level penalizes Italian citizens, despite the commitment of the “Task Force on Disputed Minors” of the Farnesina.
* Raffaella Saso – Deputy Director of Eurispes
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– 2024-09-17 20:39:17
