GENDER INDICATORS
AGAINST SOCIAL EXCLUSION
FIELDWORK REPORT
Roma, Dic 2004
INDEX
1.
The Fieldwork………………………………………………………p.2
1.1 Context of the fieldwork……………………………………….p.2
Setting
Recruitment
1.2 Methodology…………………………………………………...p.2
1.3 Description of the sample…………………………………..p.4
2.
Considerations on every dimension………………………..….p.6
3.
Taskforce Methodological proposals………………………….p.20
3.1 Reflections on the fieldwork………………………………….p.20
3.2 Form the individualisation of qualitative factors,
to the construction of quantitative indicators……..………….p.22
ANNEX: The Tool ……………………………………………………….p.24
1.1 – CONTEXT OF THE FIELDWORK
The experimentation was been carried out in Frosinone, with the co-operation
of the CPI - Centro per l’Impiego (Employment Public Service) and of the
Intercultural Centre of the Province of Frosinone.
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Setting
Two different rooms were used for the experimentation, one in the intercultural
centre and the other in the CPI. One woman only was interviewed at Cras.
All women established a positive relationship with the tutor and were well
disposed to co-operate.
Recruitment
The 9 women involved were selected from the lists of the CPI, of the Intercultural
Centre and among those who have applied to the Servizio Sportello Donna1.
One woman was selected among the network of personal relationships of Cras.
The women were rung and received explanations about the project, the
contents of the interviews and the approach.
1.2 - METHODOLOGY
The methodology for collecting data was based on semi-structured interviews
to people belonging to the project target group: female immigrants, women
responsible for lone-parent families and young women with low qualification.
The women selected had different education, professional experiences and
age.
The tool
The qualitative tool used for collecting data was chosen as the best way to
know deeply the areas of investigation and to compensate the lack of
available secondary data.
In fact, the semi-structured interview is based on an attentive and involving
confrontation between the interviewer and the interviewed during which it is
possible to examine closely a wide and fundamental area concerning the
interviewed.
Indeed, each interview is the representation of a lively world, of a cluster of
meanings enclosing the whole society the interviewer and the interviewed
belong to.
In the case of female immigrants, the interviews focused both on migration itself
- the reasons for leaving their countries, social and professional competences
acquired in the past, characteristics of the original families and surroundings,
symbolic contexts of reference – and on the possibilities offered by the host
country, especially concerning the labour market – positions, ways of insertion
in the labour market, expectations.
The scheme followed in the interviews was made of questions and free talk
allowing the interviewed to tell their experiences of life. If necessary, the
interviewer could pose questions both to help the interviewed, to have
explanations on her thought, to stimulate her to go on.
1
A service dealing with gender mainstreaming in the labour market.
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The macro-areas of investigation have been transversally organised so that it is
possible to grant continuity to the narration.
The partners participating in the Barcelona seminar of February 2004 chose to
include the following areas of investigation in the semi-structured interview:
Economic dimension // Incomes
Labour dimension // Labour market
Family
Housing
Education and training
Health
Social networks and social participation
Political dimension
The interviews were carried out by Dr.Maria Andò, Dr. Cinzia Angelini and Dr.
Lucia Tardani.
8 interviews out of 9 were recorded on tapes and then transcribed and
analysed. Since the qualitative approach was chosen, while examining the
data, opinions, phenomena or attitudes are never considered for the
frequency of occurrence, but as “clusters” of indications given by the
interviewed confirming the relevance of a subject with respect to the others.
This report focuses on the macro-areas investigated in the interviews (social
exclusion factors); the theoretical interpretation also contains passages of the
narration helping understand both the concept suggesting the interpretation
given, the context and the way in which opinions and facts where expressed.
1.3 - DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE
1: 19-year-old Italian girl. She has lived with her grand-mother since his father’s
death. She gave up her studies because of her father’s disease and has always
had a conflictual relationship with her mother by whom she has never felt
accepted. A strong affection binds her to her sisters, she takes care of the
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youngest one. She has done many temporary jobs, at the moment she is
unemployed. She would like to go on with her studies and get married.
2: 46 years old, she is from Romania, she worked in Bucarest as a microbiologist.
She got married with an Italian man one year ago and has no children. She left
Romania two years ago for him. She has tried many jobs, but at the moment
she is unemployed and deeply depressed. She relies on Frosinone Intercultural
Centre.
3: 26-year-old girl, she was born and brought up on the Polish border on
Slovakia. She has graduated from high school. Since her childhood, she has
travelled across Europe. She moved to Rome four years ago to find a well-paid
job and reach her mother and other relatives. Three years ago she married a
young Polish man she met in Italy. She lives in the suburbs of Rome and works as
a housekeeper but “in the black”.
4: 24-year-old young Nigerian girl, she came to Italy 3 years ago because of the
economic conditions of her family. In Nigeria, she attended the first year of
secondary school, then she went to work at the local market with her mother.
Some elements suggest that when she came to Italy, she was a prostitute for
some years. She married a 53-year–old man that she would like to leave
because he keeps her as a prisoner. She would like to study medicine, but she is
not planning her future at the moment. She does not work because her father
does not want her to.
5: the second woman was interviewed at Frosinone Employment Public Service.
She is 35-year-old widow who has two girls. She was 16 when she left school and
her family because of an undesired pregnancy. She lived with her husband in
her mother-in-law’s house for one year, then they went in their own house. Her
husband died 4 years later and she never got married again. She has done
different jobs to maintain her daughters. At the moment, she has a six-month
job in a hospital.
6: the third woman was interviewed at Frosinone Employment Public Service.
She is around 18 and has left school because of the family’s economic
conditions. She lives with her mother who suffers from heart disease, while her
father abandoned them 18 years ago. They live on a public subsidy of 600,00 €
per month that they share with her sister who went to live with her boyfriend. At
the moment, she is looking for a job.
7: 38 years old, she was born in Campobasso, but she moved to Aprilia when
she was 19, immediately after getting married. She had two children with her
first husband, from whom she divorced, and two with her second partner (one
of them died after one week). She attended the teacher’s college, but she did
not go to the last exam, so she never got the degree. Once she had a
videotape shop, but at the moment she is unemployed. She is still in good terms
with her previous husband who maintains all the children, included the little girl
who was born from the second relationship.
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8: 21 years old, she was born and brought up in Frosinone where she lives with
her mother, who is a school-caretaker, and with one brother who occasionally
works as a bricklayer. She has another brother who migrated to Germany. Her
father died when she was 12. she has had a few professional experiences:
barwoman, waitress, one day with a cleaning contractor. At the moment she is
unemployed and maintained by her mother. Her brother contributes to the
expenses only when he can.
9: she was born in Germany 36 years ago and came back to Italy when she
was 5. she lives in Ferentino, in the province of Frosinone. She has six children;
three with her first husband who live with their father, and three with her
second partner who live with her. She only attended compulsory school. She
worked as a skilled worker, mechanic, waitress, but always without a contract.
At the moment, she is unemployed.
2 - CONSIDERATIONS ON EVERY DIMENSION
1. ECONOMIC DIMENSION / INCOME
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“it is my husband who manages the money, he gives me the money for the
shopping. He controls what is missing and I buy it”
“I tell her what I think, but it is my mother who manages everything, and I must
understand that I can’t afford to have everything, you manage the expenses
and you know that everything can happen tomorrow, I’ve always told her, but
it’s irksome when your mother reproaches you and spends, while you always
feel sick” (1)
“it’s not easy to manage money, our jobs don’t censure a regular income” (2)
“we manage the money together, we calculate and see what can be done,
some months it’s really hard” (2)
“I’ve also had a 4.000,00€ income only from a pension. I’ve nothing to live on
but my pension and what I can earn. This year, I had the books paid back
because of my low income”
“thanks to this job, I can afford the expenses, it’s something more than 1000€, if
it was always like that, it would be ok, I would be rich. Now I have a good
standard of living”
“my son goes to university, my daughter to school (she has a bent on drawing),
their father pays for the school, clothes, mobile phones, I contribute as I can
working by the hour” (7)

1.1 Economic dependence on the family;

1.2 Low income: two women with a difficult family situation live on social
subsidies and on what they can earn.
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2. LABOUR DIMENSION / LABOUR MARKET
“When I look for a job, I can ask the woman responsible for the mediation
centre” (4)
“I feel like working, it’s a personal satisfaction, it’s a need I have when I get up
in the morning” (1)
“I’ve always got along doing the cleaning, and I’ve spent years, I’ve never had
contracts, I’ve always been an easy-going person and I’ve never told anyone
face to face when the salary was too low or when they were take advantage
on me” (1)
“for me the important is to stay with people, to have a job where I can have
contacts, all the jobs I’ve done where with people” (1)
“I need to do something, I’ve never thought of the job I could do, everything is
good for me! (1)
“I worked in a microbiology institute in Bucarest, but before reaching this level,
I’ve done many jobs. At times, I’ve made little steps forward, as everybody” (2)
“nobody can change my mind, there are places where they make the
difference between people, perhaps not discriminations, but sometimes I’ve
heard that people thought things about me and this changed their attitude
towards me. They exploit you because they know that you are willing and need
a job” (2)
“I’ve almost always worked without a contract. Sometimes I haven’t been
paid”(6)
“to reconcile work and the family I’m always in a hurry, sometimes I work on
shifts, I make dinner and lunch altogether, I’m happy that my daughters have
grown”(5)
“I worked as a shopkeeper for 21 days, then I was dismissed because she got
angry with a colleague and she reacted and the following day she told me
that I had to go too, she told me bad things and I reacted. She behaved badly
with the money as well” (6)
“for a woman, specially with no degree, it’s easy to be undervalued. You are
judged for what you wear” (8)
“I liked that job and my employers, I left it unexpectedly because I was sick and
I’ve never had the courage to go there and ask for the job again” (8)
“When I look for a job, I open the yellow pages, find the numebrs and call” (9)
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“When I say that I’m divorced, they all change their attitude” (9)

2.1 work without a contract: most women have had working experiences
without a contract

2.2 conciliation work/family: those women who live in bad family
conditions have difficulties in reconciling work and the family

2.3 lack of guidance: these women hardly have proper strategies to
enter the labour market

2.4 lack of professional degree: it’s difficult to find a job with a low school
degree

2.5 lack of responsibility for the job: many leave their job for silly reasons

2.6 scarce knowledge of the means to find a job: many of them don’t
even know about newspapers or other sources to find work ads and wait
for help

2.7 gender mainstreaming: many of them say for a woman it’s more
difficult to find a job

2.8 discriminations as for the civil status: women who are divorced are illtreated, as though they were less serious both in their private life and on
the job
In time, these factors become a sort of occupational segregation making it
difficult to imagine the possibility of having personal autonomy, a house, family
reunions and inclusion in the authocthonal community. A temporary job risks to
become the only contact with the new society, while the total absorption of
time and physical and psychological energies hinders any kind of change.
In the case of female immigrants, the irregular permanence in the host country
influence their capacity to react to difficult and unsatisfactory jobs. Impotence,
together with the fear to be discovered and sent away before fulfilling their
goals, make them accept without reply, a difficult moment maybe, but a
necessary condition to move, get informed and know the best way to
improvement.
Therefore, irregularity in life and work causes a complete lack of protection and
safety; women are condemned to a precarious existence where any objective
appears as unreachable and it is necessary to adapt to different situations and
to continuously redefine oneself.
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Whatever the reason for migrating, whatever the level of schooling or
professional experiences, female immigrants are likely to find a position only as
housemaids or assistant to the elderly.
Therefore, work is a primary and fundamental element in the lives of women for
several reasons:
- if it is regular, it allows them to obtain the stay permit or, at least, to
survive, even if “hidden”
- having a salary allows them to live day by day and to sustain their
families in the country of origin
- it allows tem to contribute to family life and the support of children, a
participation linked to the social and cultural changes of the role of the
woman within the family
- it makes them autonomous and emancipated with respect to the role
once imposed by society
- it helps be included in the new reality and learn new styles of life
- it is an element of personal fulfilment
Apart from personal desires, what all these women share is the possibility to
choose a job and not to be chosen.
3. FAMILY
“the problem with my family was that there was no money to make me study,
so I left school when I was 15 and in the first year of scuola media, then I went
to work with my mother in the market” (4)
“when my father died, everything changed: my mother went crazy and
changed all her life, my family split, my sisters gave up their studies, I felt alone, I
stopped and I didn’t know what I had to do” (1)
“both my parents are simple persons, they are not learned, they don’t know
things, but they wanted me to study” (2)
“my mother has never been my friend, we understand each other, but we
aren’t close, we get along well only now that we leave far away from each
other, perhaps because now she is old” (2)
“I’ve done many choices by myself, sometimes I asked for an advice, but I think
it’s right that when you are an adult, you make your own decisions by yourself,
but in my country I’m not always allowed to say what I want” (2)
“we have no children because when we got married, we were adult, and now
there are difficult moments as in all families. When there are problems
concerning work, when you are not satisfied with your professional life, there
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are discussions on me, because he is Italian and for him it is not as difficult to
find a job” (2)
“I came to Italy to help my family, I spent some time in Rome and slept at the
train station” (4)
“I’ve always made my decisions by myself” (4)
“my marriage is not going well and I often cry, then I call my mother and father
and they comfort me” (4)
“he must treat me as a wife or as a daughter, it’s like that in my country, if you
marry a girl much younger than you, then you have to treat her as a daughter;
on the contrary, he treats me as another thing and I don’t like that” (4)
“there was a social worker at school who made me know a psychologist and
when my sister was ill I thought that even if she didn’t want to talk to me, she
could talk of her trauma with him, but she doesn’t listen to my advice and I’m
sorry for that because we are alone, although we live together” (1)
“I’ve made my decisions by myself, if my family had influenced me, maybe
now I would be better off” (5)
“they were stricter with my two sisters, I probably was more spoilt” (5)
“the only difficult is economic, I was unemployed for three years, now I have a
job for six months, but I’m always afraid they won’t call me again. I never stop, I
do any kind of job, I feed my children, but I have no certainties” (5)
“My first pregnancy hadn’t been planned and it completely changed my life.
Probably, I didn’t realise what was happening, I found myself in my mother-inlaw’s house, I didn’t know what to do with my little daughter” (5)
“I give advice to my family. My mother is hypertensive and I don’t want her to
worry. I never tell her I need money, I prefer to tell my mother-in-law” (5)
“My family is upset, my mother divorced 18 years ago, when I was born, my
father went to live with another woman, they had three children, then he
married another woman. I live with my mother, I have an older sister who went
to live with her boyfriend. If I wanted to meet my father, I had to go to him, he
cares for his son only. He has always neglected me. We don’t get on well, he
attacks me and I attack him” (6)
“in my family, there have been states of tension, we all were looking for a job
and couldn’t find it. We quarrelled for no reason at all. There have never been
difficulties in our relationship” (6)
“I feel responsible for my mother, she can’t work because of heart disease. My
sister went away, she thinks of her own life and she’s right because she is 20. up
to now she has maintained me and I do that for my mother” (6)
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“now that we have a social subsidy, we feel better. We have 350 € per month
and they are enough because there are only two of us, we live in a council
house and the heating always costs the same, so it’s only the shopping. She
gives me 100 € out of 350. she uses the rest for the bills, heating and rent, we do
the shopping together, this money is hardly enough. All expenses are planned.
There is no money left for whims, but my mother has no whims” (6)
“when my father was alive, everything was different. I had to act as a woman,
wear female clothes, stay at home, cook. My parents got on very well. There
were rules to respect, now there are no more, at least for my brothers” (8)
“I was conditioned by my family: I wanted to study, but they sent me to work
because there were too many children, 11. the same for my brothers. The
younger ones were more spoilt, but they migrated to Germany anyway” (9)
3.1 Composition of the original family
3.1.1 The number of children often has repercussions on the possibility to
complete the studies. One woman had to give up school because she had 8
brothers and the family could not afford the expenses. After giving up school,
she migrated from Africa to Italy.
3.1.2 One woman admits her difficulties due to the fact that she is a widow:
“once I went to the mayor to explain him my situation, a woman alone with two
daughters, in order to find a job. His reply was that if I wanted to grant a meal
to my daughters, I should have to get married again”.
3.1.3 Another woman lives with her mother who divorced 18 years ago and
now is also ill; she declares that her choices are linked to the responsibility she
has towards her mother.
3.2 Family’s level of education: the members of the families often have a low
level of education.
3.3 Lack of moral support from the family: sometimes the divorcées are isolated
from the families that do not share their choices; a foreign woman does not
work at the moment because her husband does not want her too; therefore,
her social network is limited too.
3.4 Desire to leave the original family: some women get married early to leave
the original families because they don’t feel understood.
3.5 Generational gap: because of the different mentality between generations,
many women don’t feel understood within the family and are confined into
prescribed roles.
3.6 Need of points of reference: three women prematurely lost their fathers and
admit they missed a “strong guide”.
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3.7 Disintegration of the family: migration causes the disintegration of large
families.
4. HOUSING
“I know all my neighbours, but we live separate lives” (4)
“maybe, if I lived in the North of Italy, I would have a job, but no friends” (4)
“I don’t like my neighbourhood, people are envious and given to gossip. I
didn’t choose it, we were given the house there” (6)
“I live in a council house, at first I was a squatter, then my position was settled.
There are public services in the area. The school bus for my daughters is
fundamental because often I cannot afford to drive them to school. I’d better
move because I don’t like my neighbourhood. I wouldn’t move from Ferentino
not to eradicate my daughters. If I was alone, I would” (9)
“I chose the neighbourhood I live in because it’s close to my boyfriend’s” (8)
“I have a formal relationship with my neighbours” (7)
“I have no neighbours because I live in a single house on a restaurant. I wanted
a single house because I needed to get rid of “false” friends. Sometimes I chat
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with those of the restaurant and of a grocery nearby, but I never ask for favours,
unless it’s something like a clove of garlic” (7)
“I had difficulties in finding a house: they asked me if I was divorced, if I had a
pay-envelope. They refused to give me the house as I told them I was
divorced” (9)
4.1
No relationships with the Neighbours: most of the women have no
relationships with their neighbours (if they do, it’s only with the family)
4.2 Place of living: one woman thinks that if she lived in a bigger town, it would
be easier for her to have a social life, another one says that in a bigger town it
would not be so difficult to find a job. A young woman declares that it’s only a
matter of will.
4.3 Dependence on institutions: some live or are waiting for council houses,
others have found a house thanks to the “friend of the friend of the assessor”.
4.4 Discriminations on the civil status: for the divorcées, it is more difficult to find
a house.
5 - EDUCATION AND TRAINING
“I gave up my studies after finishing compulsory school and my parents didn’t
incite me to go on, they never said “go on daughter, it’s for your future”; I will
spur my children” (1)
“any degree, any school is not recognised here. If I had a university degree.. I
would have to pay taxes for all the years that have passed, almost 20.. what
can I do? I think about it, but I find no solution” (2)
“I would have liked to go on studying, I want to do it here, learning the
language is not enough, I don’t know if I still have the strength to study, but I
would like to study medicine” (4)
“If I could turn back time, I would go on studying, I’m always asked for a
degree” (6)
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“the school I attended didn’t change me; if I had go on, I would surely have
changed” (5)
“if I want to work and study, I have to find something for the morning only, but
here the only school is the commercial one and it’s useless” (1)
“my brother only finished elementary school, I’m the only one in the family who
studied a little more” (5)
“I would like to finish the high school, but since I work, I have no time to study. I
started a school for social services, but I couldn’t study. I would like to do
something to work in a hospital, not as a nurse, but something to stay with
patients, such as assistance to the elderly” (5)
“No, I have a certificate because I only followed a municipal course to work in
nursery schools, but I’ve never used it. I liked the course, I’ve learnt many things,
but I’ve never put them into practice. I’ve never had the necessary time to
follow these courses” (5)
“I participated in a competition to work as a telephone operator, but I don’t
know how the lists were done. They chose girls who were born in the 80s, very
very young, and now they have a job. They have no children, no points, this
makes me angry. I always have to start again, adapt to new situations” (5)
“I would like to attend a course on computers, but I can’t because my mother
can’t work” (6)
“I applied for a professional training course, but it was stopped. I wanted to
follow a course on computers, but I didn’t pass the admission test when they
asked me to do the “cut and paste”, so I was excluded. But the people who
were admitted are not working now, this means that these courses are “all a
lie”, unless you know somebody important” (7)
“I attended the first two years of the school for “assistance to children”, then I
gave up because I was disappointed. The girls who didn’t study passed, while I
failed, probably for my behaviour. So I went to work. I had chosen that school
by myself, I had heard it was easy. I would like to study foreign languages, but I
can’t find a public school organising free night courses. I would also like to use
the computer and work as a secretary. If I had a degree, I would be a lawyer”
(8)
“I followed a six-month course at the hotel school, then I got married and had a
baby. I would like to attend vocational training courses, but not in the same
sector because if I worked in a restaurant, what could I do with my daughters? I
thought of asking CEPU2, but I should go to Rome and I always have the
problems of my daughters. I wanted to be a teacher or a psychologist” (9)
5.1 Incomplete school career: most women gave up their studies either for the
family’s economic situation or for other problems (e. g. pregnancy). Having a
2
Italian private courses helping people to study for university examinations.
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low level of education negatively influences the possibility to find a job. All of
them would have liked to go on studying.
5.2 Knowledge of the language: a foreign woman who does not speak Italian, is
attending a language course because as long as I don’t know Italia, I won’t
have any job but as a housemaid. Two foreign women have learnt Italian by
themselves and they are very proud of it. Speaking the language is necessary
to be included.
5.3 Lack of continuous training: these women never receive training on the job.
5.4 Incapacity to value one’s own possibilities: one woman doesn’t go to the
last year exam because she feels ashamed, although she has attended and
easily passed the previous five years; another one chooses a school because it
is easy and gives up after failing.
5.5 Incapacity to have access to information: some of them do not know how
to look for training courses.
5.6 No recognition of education and professional skills
5.7 Gender mainstreaming
Immigrants living in Italy often have a higher level of education and professional
skills than the Italian workers doing the same job.
Many reasons make it difficult to recognise the immigrants’ resources. First of all,
the formal recognition of the degree is hardly obtained, so that they often have
to repeat some years of the school they attended in their countries; other
problems concern the use of the skills acquired. In fact, skills are generally linked
to a specific context and can be transferred only if the immigrant involved
perfectly knows written and spoken Italian.
6. HEALTH
“I suffer from varicose veins, I go to the angiologist, and from chronic rhinitis, I
take cortisone. These diseases cause trouble in my social and working life,
varicose veins make my legs heavy, I’m always tired, breathing is difficult
because of the rhinitis, I suffer from headache. I’ve already been operated on
twice, I’m waiting for the third operation”.(5)
“I feel sick, very sick, but I’ve put on weight and now I weigh 45 kilos, while I
weighed 39. but this is not enough, I’ve lost my smile, look at the picture…” (2)
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“I’m fine, but if I need, let’s say, a gynaecologist, I go to the public service
where there is a good doctor. My boyfriend always comes with me” (1)
“I’ve never had any disease up to now, only the dentist. But he is really too
expensive. If I need any test, I have to pay for it” (3)
“I have a doctor that I trust, a woman who is a friend of mine. We never meet
outside her studio because she is always busy, but I often call her and go to the
studio if I need help. I’m satisfied with her, but not with the public service. I was
disappointed when I took my daughter to the hospital for a cystitis and they
didn’t solve the problem. I know a paediatrician, but I try not to take
advantage of him” (7)
7.SOCIAL NETWORK /SOCIAL PARTICIPATION
“my friends have never turned their back on me, they are all simple people, not
important, we go to the bar together and if I need something, they help me,
also when I moved. They always ask me if there is something I need” (1)
“in another town, it would be easier for me to meet friends, but here everybody
considers me as a prostitute, I don’t like that. In Rome it would be different,
there are many foreigners, here it’s a small town. I don’t know if it would be
easier for the job as well, here I can work as a housemaid. I don’t work because
my husband doesn’t want me to, this is not jealousy, it’s wickedness, it’s not fair
that I have to ask him for money if I have to buy the phonecard to call my
family or the underwear. This will never change. He says that if I find a job, I
have to leave his house” (4)
“I don’t belong to any group but I go to the cultural mediation centre, I’ve
been going there for three years” (4)
“I have my life, I didn’t choose it, but I don’t care about what other people say,
I don’t care about their lives” (1)
“I would like to go out with my friends because I always stay at home with my
husband and if you don’t go out, there are many things you don’t learn and
we often quarrel on this” (4)
“I have no Italian friends” (4)
“if I have problems, I have nobody to ask for help, often I can’t call my family
because I have no money. I solve my problems by myself. I suffer for my
loneliness because I think that if a woman has problems, she has to go to her
husband and vice versa, but for me it’s not like that” (4)
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“I don’t belong to any group, but I would like to, sometimes I go to the hospital
to help feed the elderly, I stay there for the night, I like that” (5)
“I have two close friends, then I have colleagues, we rarely meet, but often call
each other” (5)
“I consider as neighbours all the people living in my area, it’s a very small
village, we all know each other, I don’t ask them for anything, they don’t ask
me for anything”(5)
“I don’t belong to any group, I have no time since I have to look for a job. It
would be nonsense to go once out of ten times. If I could, I would assist the
elderly or join a group to protect abandoned dogs”(6)
“I have many friends, about 25 are close friends, I can trust them. My family is
well known, my grand-father was a well known chapman and I’m well known
too”(6)
“I have many friends, all women, they often come to my house. One of them is
closer than the others. She’s a psychologist, sometimes I ask her to control if my
daughters are ok. Many friends, but a few that I can trust. With them I’m always
joyful, I like organising. I’ve always got along well with my colleagues, but I
prefer to have formal relationships to avoid competition. In case of necessity, I
would count on myself only. I’m used to do everything by myself, I pull myself
down and then I recover. When my daughters sleep, I find relief in writing and
then I feel good” (9)
“The only friends I have, are my boyfriend’s friends. Now I have no close friends,
I’ve been disappointed and betrayed too many times, I’ve lost my heart. When
I meet my boyfriend’s friends, I always adhere to their proposals, I feel ashamed
if I have to take an initiative” (8)
“I only have a few friends, because I don’t believe in friendship any longer. I
only have a close friend and we meet every three or four days” (7)
7.1 Not to belong to any group or association: these women have limited social
networks; consequently they get little information on vacancies.
7.2 Limited number of friends: adult women generally have a few friends;
immigrants usually have foreign friends.
8. POLITICAL DIMENSION
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“I’ve had problems with the justice twice, the first time when I was in Rome with
the lady, the police found me without documents, I called the lady, but she
said she had no money to pay the lawyer, she said I had to call my family. They
kept me there for 24 days. The second time in Frosinone, we were driving back
from Rome where we had gone to the embassy to get some documents. The
police stopped us and asked who I was, my husband said we were going to
get married, they said I was a whore because I didn’t have documents. This
time I didn’t go to prison because we had a lawyer” (4)
“I never vote, I’m not interested in politics. I’ve never thought about it. Even in
my country, I went to vote only once because I was obliged by my father” (4)
“I’ve never been interested in politics. Once I stood as a candidate simply to fill
in a list, but I’ve never spoken. I got 10 votes” (5)
“I don’t understand why it is so difficult to have access to the labour market,
there are things it is better not to ask” (5)
“I’m not interested in politics, people and children are dying for political
reasons. What is politics useful for?” (6)
“If I think of the condition of my family, I pull myself down, I become lazy and
don’t think of myself. Sometimes I think that people look at you in the face and
don’t want to give you a job, but it is not like this” (6)
“I vote for the one I’m told to vote, I don’t understand anything about politics. I
would like politicians to help young people with money and training and
protect them against drug addiction” (8)
“I worked for the electoral campaign of a friend for two years and I really
enjoyed it. The political ideas I had when I was young (equality for everybody)
have been disappointed. I’ve never joined any trade union” (7)
“I vote because it’s a duty, but I don’t believe in politics. I feel abandoned by
institutions” (7)
8.1 Low level of socio-political interest: almost none of the women interviewed
seems to be interested in politics, some of them do not vote, they say politics is
too far from them.
8.2 Lack of one’s own political creed: some women need to know who they
have to vote because they do not know anything about politics. This often
happens because they have difficulties in understanding the meaning of
political speeches.
8.3 Lack of trust in institutions: some women expect complete assistance: they
would like to receive a house, subsidies, a job, sanitary help. They wait and
never take any initiative.
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Although some of the main structural changes in society imply positive
variations for most people, for particularly vulnerable groups they can represent
new risks of poverty and social exclusion if proper political measures are not
taken. This is particularly true for changes in the labour market that have
followed the globalisation and the fast development of a society based on
knowledge and information and communication technology, for the new
demographic trend determined by longevity and the decrease of the birth
rate, for the growing ethnic, cultural and religious diversity due to migration
both in the world and within the EU, for the different composition of families
caused by the rise of divorces and the diverse roles women and men now have
in society.
If the risk of social exclusion is caused by a variety of needs, public policies are
generally fragmented because they are referred to a plurality of subjects and
structured in separate fields (social, sanitary, education, labour, territorial,
industrial); furthermore, such policies are often conditioned by emergency and
so immediately assist those who need help without finding preventing and
everlasting solutions to problems.
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1. ECONOMIC
2. LABOUR
3.FAMILY
4.HOUSING
5.EDUCATION/TRAINING
7.SOCIAL NETWORK
8.POLITICAL DIMENSION
Fieldwork Report
1.1 Economic dependence on the family
1.2 Low income
1.3 Capacity to have essential properties at
one’s own disposal
1.4 Long time dependence on insufficient
income
2.1 Work not regulated by a contract
2.2 Conciliation work/family
2.3 Lack of professional guidance
2.4 Lack of professional degree
2.5 Lack of responsibility for the job
2.6 Scarce knowledge of the means to find a
job
2.7 Discriminations as for the civil status
3.1 Composition of the original family
3.2. Family’s level of education
3.3 Lack of moral support from the family
3.4 Desire to leave the original family
3.5 Generational gap
3.6 Need of points of reference
3.7 Disintegration of the family
3.8 Growth in a socially vulnerable family
4.1. No relationships with the neighbours
4.2 Place of living
4.3 Dependence on institutions
4.4 Discriminations on the civil status
5.1 Incomplete school career
5.2 Knowledge of the language
5.3 Lack of continuous training
5.4 Incapacity to value one’s own possibilities
5.5 Incapacity to have access to information
5.6 No recognition of education and
professional skills
5.7 Gender mainstreaming
7.1 Not to belong to any group or association
7.2 Limited number of friends
7.3 Social participation and individual and
family social networks
8.1 Low level of socio-political interest
8.2 Lack of one’s own political creed
8.3 Lack of trust in institutions
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3. TASKFORCE METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSALS
The focused the attention in particular on two plans: that relating to the analysis
of the results of the fieldwork( the national Italian and of the other partner
countries, in this in accordance with case across the documents of the
transnational of Bruxelles-Leuven) and that relating to the individualisation of
some first methodological guide lines for the conversion of the qualitative
indicators into quantitative indicators.
3.1 Reflections on the fieldwork.
The taskforce agreed in evaluating the fieldwork
results as rich of
indications. In the complex, the variegated sphere of the factors of social
exclusion as been substantially individualised in its widening. Yet, from the
different interventions the demand of a greater deepening of any themes,
or of a further high lightening of other, emerged. In particular the following
findings came out:
a) It is important to agree, within this project, on the concept of risk
of social exclusion and on the different meanings of meaning
that this term assumes depending on the contexts. Starting from
the distinction between the concept of risk of social exclusion
and the risk of loss of the relative well-being. Under this outlines it
is necessary to focalise, better and more in-depth, the subjective
dimension and the female specificity of the risk of social exclusion
that, to a first reading, they extend to characterize for its
transversal aspects to the genders. More generally, We need to
take into consideration that in the European area Countries and
in particular in the partners countries of the project, the social
exclusion characterizes always as a complex and multifactor
phenomenon, in which the different factors, interacting among
them, they produce a negative synergy ( v. the so called
"cumulative exclusion");
b) We need to orient toward the definition of an exact set of
indicators able to individualise in the more univocal possible way
the type and the degree of risk of exclusion that the woman can
race. That in order to allow the set up of the more suitable policies
to avoid the exclusion in its self. Under the profile of the typology
we should think about:
- indicators of subsistence( indicators that notice the critical
threshold of the income, the possession or less of a house,
the attainment or less of a certain education level);
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-
indicators of the level of integration of the socioeconomic context ( v. type and degree of coverage of
the Welfare state: services, social relationships, and,
above all, how
the institutions of the Welfare do
communicate among them and which effects of
guidance/not-guidance they do produce, |etc);
- indicators of the degree of integration of the subject
(training, employment, etc)
- indicators of freedom of choice( in the family, on the
labour market, on the social, etc )
Under the profile of the degree of the risk is necessary to
distinguish in each dimension:
- the indicators that notice high critical states( related to
the needs of subsistence of the person) at the same time
they notice the objective as the subjective dimensions;
- the indicators that notice the level of ability of
Integration/ reception on behalf of the socio-economic
context where the women at risk of social exclusion live in
(opportunity, services, etc)
- indicators that notice the discard among a sufficient level
of material subsistence and a low level of subjective
ability of integration of the women caused by
phenomenon of inside uneasiness, by an insufficient level
of empowerment or from the importance of the
stereotypes ( a lot of women, for example, has difficulty
to accept the definition of exclusion and to act
consequently to contrast it ( the “decency" of the own
condition).
c) The subjective dimension to be learned and weighing with a
certain degree of reliability has to be correlated to the space (
the contexts of reference: an area more or less rich, with a greater
or smaller degree of coverage of the social standing, quality and
width of the social networks) and to time (how long the sense of
exclusion lasts). It might exist an inversely proportional proceeding
between the perception of the exclusion and the affiliation to a
determinate more or less solid area. That means: a woman
positioned just over the critical threshold of the income in a rich
zone, may feel in risk of exclusion more than, under the same
conditions of income, in a poor zone.
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3.2 Form the individualisation of qualitative factors, to the construction of
quantitative indicators
2.1. Under the methodological profile, it would be opportune to reflect on
the distinction among qualitative indicators founded on objective
dimension and measurable ( for the availability of data already elaborated
or of available sources on which basing the elaboration of the data ) and
qualitative indicators founded on subjective dimensions. In this second case,
even to get data and information of quantitative type ( e.g., to weigh the
incidence of a phenomenon or of an attitude ) is preferable to adopt
qualitative methodology ( such as biographical approaches, histories of life,
semi-structured interviews, etc.. ) rather than indicators of statistic type. Or,
We might even think of statistical surveys ad hoc, organised every x years on
determinate subjective factors. This investigations might be promoted, for
example, from the national governments or from the European Union. -In this
perspective, We might think to some organisational expedients, such as
adding a certain number and a certain type of questions ( on subjective
dimension or at micro level) to the grids of reception of the employment
services.
2.2. When preparing the statistic indicators it will be opportune to carry on a
careful recognition on indicators already existing, able to catch the factors
and the dimensions emerged from the fieldworks ; and of that indicators
missing that, however, might be built on available data not still elaborated
doing changes to survey systems or to systems of existing survey.
To this intention it is very important to agree on the approach that is chosen
that won't have to be neither too theoretical, neither too rigid. The too
theoretical indicators risk to be useless or non calculable because too
expensive. More generally, the theoretical model must be chose with
regard to the three target groups of the project.
2.3. Some indicators serve to more dimensions ( they results more incidental
in a sector, less in an other. However they introduce transversal profiles). The
complex and multifactor nature of social exclusion involves the necessity to
aggregate the factors identified within the different dimensions in the
implementation of the fieldwork. This aggregation may contribute to
strengthen the qualitative dimension and to underline better even the forms
of the female specificity of the phenomenon of the exclusion.
With this purpose, the Italian taskforce elaborated the following proposal:
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DIMENSION:
INCOME
F1, F2,F3,F5
ECONOMIC
AGGREGATED FACTORS (objective factors)
F1: Living under the poverty threshold
SOCIAL SERVICE / WELFARE
F4,F7
F2: Time spent in poverty conditions
(temporal category)
F3+F5: Percentage of contribution to
the family income by the women
presents in the nucleo.(and
authonomy of expense)
F4: Access to the social services
F7: Characteristics of the welfare
structure
CREDIT ( in wide sense, not only F8: Access to credit
banking) F8,F9
F9:Tipology of debits
SUBJECTIVE FACTORS
F11:Sense of precariousness
F12:Deprivation of the familiaries
F13:Division of the responsabilities
and of the access to the family
income
F14:Sense of dependence
F15:Stigmatization (for using the
welfare resources)
DIMENSION: LABOUR
AGGREGATED FACTORS
ACCESS AT JOB, GUIDANCE F3: Lack of vocational guidance
F3, F4,F9
F4: Facility and difficulty with the labour
market
F9: Access at work: unemployment, long
time unemployment
WORK CONDITIONS
F1: Connection work-family life: family
F1,F2,F5,F8,F12,F13
responsibility, choice of the part-time
F2: Quality of the work, absence of
contract, occasional job, relationships of
work, conditions of work…
F5: : Differences of payment
F8: Paid/Unpaid work
F12:
Generational
context
of
the
occupation
F13: Experiences of working discrimination
CONTEXT/SITUATIONS
F6: de-valorisation
F10,F11,F6,F7
F7:employment ghettoes
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F10: Recognition of the qualifications
F11: Discrepancy among work and
expectations,
desire,
competences,
possibility…
DIMENSION: FAMILY
AGGREGATED FACTORS
COMPOSITION AND ROLES OF THE F4: Composition and roles in the family
FAMILY
F5: generational status (negative spiral)
F4,F5,F6.F8
F6: gender stereotipes (gender roles,
division of the responsabilities and tasks
within the family…)
F8: decisional power
FUNCTION /SOCIALITY OF THE FAMILY
F1: Phisical and mental space,
F1,F2,F7,F3
internal/external at the family, for the
self-development
F2: Violence and its implications
F7: Lack of the family as of a net of
support
F3: Overworked due to the disparity of
the family responsibility
DIMENSION: EDUCATION AND TRAINING Aggregation in accordance
with a temporal scanning, following the training in its several moments
AGGREGATED FACTORS
BEFORE
F5: Lack of supports social support
F5
for the realisation of the family
responsibility
DURING
F3: Formal conditions and possibility
F3,F6,F7,F8,F10
of access to training and to
guidance services
F6+F7: The family conditioning in the
educational
choices
(gender
stereotype related to young people
)
F8: Knowledge of the language
F10: “Bullism” within the schools
AFTER
F1:Lack
of
recognintion
of
F1,F11,F9,F4
qualifications
F11: Generational mobility related
to school education
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F9: Access to the use of computers
and e-learning
F4: Course are not cut on the
women needs (such as flexible
timetables…)
DIMENSION: SOCIAL NETWORK
AGGREGATED
LEVEL OF SOCIAL
ITEGRATION/EXCLUSION
F1,F2,F5,F6
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS NETWORKS
F3,F4,F8,F9
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FACTORS
F1:
Frequency,
typology,
characteristic ( age, ethnic
group…) and places of social
contact
F2:
Network
of
support:
instrumental (problem solving)
and
functional
(
create
relationships)
F5: Accessibility (helps in the
children care, structure of the
organization..)
F6: Implications (costs/benefits) of
the relationships
F3: Free time activities
F4: Partecipation at activities and
associations,
and
level
of
participation
F8: Accesso e pratica di attività di
svago per giovani Access and
practice of activity of relaxation
for young people
F9: Own network versus familiar
network
26
ANNEX :
THE TOOL
1) FAMILY
-
-
-
-
-
-
Origin family: emancipation process, current relationships, family
attitudes in front of personal decisions, role of the family as
support network…
Could you tell me about your family? (how many people you
were, what kind of jobs your parents did, or your brothers etc)
Do you think there have been changes between one
generation and the following ? If you think so what do you think
has changed? Is there anything better or anything worst? Are
you still in touch with all members of your family? What kind of
relationship do you have?
Do you think your family has somehow influenced your
decisions? Or those of other members of your family? If yes,
could you explain how ? How did you use to take you decisions?
Did you talk with you family about your personal decisions?
Which was their reactions in these kind of situations?
Do you think your family has been a support for you in your life?
In which moments you feel it helped you the most? Could you
please give me any examples?
Composition of the present family unit, structure of the
household (number of people living together, composition,
relationships…)
How is composed your present family? Could you tell me about
your present family members? Which kind of relationship do you
have?
-
Family problems and tensions
How would you define the atmosphere within your present
family? Have there been difficulties in the past or there are still
some problems? Could you explain to which are the reasons or
the origin of these problems?
-
Characteristics of the family members for whom she is
responsible (number, age, labour situation…)
Do you have any dependants? Number of dependants, age,
work conditions…)
-
-
Tasks and responsibilities regarding domestic work and care
tasks
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-
Which aspects of the children care are under your responsibility?
Which are under your husband responsibility? What do you think
of this role division?
Maternity and family planning
Did you decide to have children, or it happened casually? If it
was your decision, which elements helped you in taking it?
Which were an obstacle ? If it was casual, how did you
organised your life? Was It easy, which problems did you meet?
Which kind of troubles?
-
Decision making processes within the family sphere
How do you take decision within your family? Who take the
decision and in which way?
-
Distribution of the incomes and of the consumptions
How are planned and controlled the expenses for the family
and its individuals? Is everything related to the necessity of the
moment? How are distributed the expenses in the different
sectors of necessity?
-
2) SOCIAL NETWORK AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION
-
Participation in social groups, associative organisations,
associations…
Are you part of any group or association? If not, why? If not,
would you like to take part of something? Which and why? If
yes, at which group do you take part?
-
Friendships and other relationships (network, habits…)
How many friends do you have? How often do you see them?
Which kind of activity do you make together? What do you
have in common? How many of them may be considered close
friends? Which kind of relationship do you have with them? How
often do you see each other? Do you usually have long term
relationship or do you have different groups of friends that you
see casually? Do you usually propose activities or do you adapt
to the decisions of your friends?
-
Relationships with workmates, job employers…
IF WORKING: have you got any colleagues? If yes, do you see
them out of job? If yes, which kind of relationship do you have?
What do you do together? Out of the job context, is you
relationship the same of the one you have at job?
-
Relationships in the neighbourhood
Who do you consider neighbours? Do you know them? Which
kind of relationship do you have with them? Do you exchange
favours to each other? If yes, which kind of favours?
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-
Support network in case of difficult situations
If you are in troubles, who is the first person you think in? Why?
Who is the first person you call at? Why? Have you ever found
yourself in such situation? If yes, did the person you called come
to help you? If not, why? What did you think of it?
-
Belonging links to a community, cultural identity and attitudes in
relation to this identification
Are you bound to your city? Would you go living on an other
place? If yes, in which conditions? If not, why? Do you agree
and share the mentality, the life habits and the culture of the
city you live in? Which and why?
-
3) HEALTH
-
Access to health services (medical and psychological)
Have you got a family doctor? Which kind of relationship do you
have with him/her? Do you know the Public Health Service of
your territory? Do you use the National Health Service? What do
you think of it?
-
Habits in consultations
How do you react when you have some disease? Do you wait
for it stops? do you take in autonomy medicines? Do you go to
the doctor?) Usually, how many times at month do you go to the
doctor? Which are the most common reason for going?
-
Self-perception of the attention to her discomfort or unease
Are there any diseases in your life more frequent than others?
Which? Do these disturbs, affect your social or professional life?
Which kind of problems do they deal with? How do you solve it?
Do you think these disturbs might be related to other aspects of
you life?
-
Communication with medical professionals
What do you think of the relationship with the doctors and the
health operators you met in your life? Would you expect form
them a different behaviour? What?
Tasks and responsibilities in relation with other family member’s
health
Who takes care of the health of your family? In which way?
Would you need a different kind of support? Which kind of?
-
-
Attitudes, reactions and habits in front of health emergency
situations (resources used, network…)
Have you ever lived an health emergency? How did you react?
Who did you turned to? Could you have behaved differently?
What?
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4) HOUSING
-
-
Housing conditions (tenure status, role of the interviewee in
relation with the tenure status, conditions of habitability, uses of
house spaces…)
Where do you live? Is the house of you own property or are you
renting it? Was it difficult to find it? If yes, which kind of
difficulties? Do you consider the cost is to expensive/right in
respect of the value of the house ? Are your income sufficient to
cover the expenses of the house? Have you ever shared the
house with unknown people to share the expenses? Would you
describe me your house? Do you consider it a comfortable
place to live in? If yes, why? If not, why? Would you like to
change something in your living condition, what? Do you think is
it possible for you? In which way? Which are your tasks for the
care of the house? Do you think these tasks correspond to your
resources?
-
Residence dynamics and possible habits of sharing the house
(possible residence changes during the year and strategies)
How would you define living with your family? Which are the
negative /positive aspects of living with them? Do you think that
things would change in a bigger/smaller house? Why? If you
might choose, where and who would you live with?
-
Access to public resources for housing
Could you do reference to public facilitations for the finding and
the maintenance of the house?
-
Detail of different housing situations during her life
Have lived always in this house? If, would you change it? If not,
where did you live before? Why did you decide to move?
Would you tell me about your first houses? Where were they,
how were they? Which were the features of the once you liked
most?
-
Opinion about the neighbourhood: infrastructures, accessibility,
access to services, social relationships, problems…
What do you think of the district you live in? Did you choose it or
Did you has satisfied of what have found? Do you consider it a
nice place to live in? Which services offers your district? What do
you think about it? Are they efficient? Easily attainable? Do you
know the inhabitants of your neighbourhood? Which kind of
relationships do you have with them? Did the Living in this district
facilitated you in the social and working life? Did it obstacle
you? In which way?
-
1
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5) EDUCATION AND TRAINING
-
Experiences in her schooling period
Which schools have you attended? Would you tell me of your
school experience? Are you satisfied with the itinerary you
made?
-
Environment of her origin family in relation with her education
Thinking of your origin, do you consider that the educative
process you went through, changed you in some way? If yes, in
which way?
-
Educational level and situation of her family members
Which kind of education did the components of your family
receive?
-
Expectations and opportunities in improving her education and
training
Would you like to improve your training? What would you like to
do?
-
-
Obstacles for improving education and training (trying to
identify not only “personal” difficulties but specially obstacles
coming from family responsibilities, lack of public support…)
Have there been any events that hindered your training run?
Which? What influences had your family of origin in your
choices? your actual living conditions ( money, work, family )
would allow you to devote time to training?
-
Detail of different educational experiences (as the participation
in non formal courses, etc.)
Have you ever attended any training courses? Which? Why?
What do you think? Would you make it again? Were they useful
for you job?
-
Relationships between training and work
Is your job coherent with the educative itinerary you made?
-
Training opportunities in the workplace
Do you receive any training on the job?
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6) LABOUR DIMENSION / LABOUR MARKET
Participation in the formal productive labour market (jobs,
labour conditions, professional sector, professional status,
location…)
Which is your job? Do you like it? Which is your role? Are you
satisfied with the condition of work?(retribution, position,
timetables, context, colleagues)?
-
-
Participation into the labour market under informal or nonregulated conditions
Which kind of contract do you have? Have you ever worked
without contract or with an instable one?
Relationships between productive and reproductive sphere:
intermittences, strategies of conciliation…
Dou you reach conciliate family and job? How?
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Access to job opportunities
Which strategies do you use for searching a job? Which do you
consider more effective? Why?
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Professional trajectory: past labour experiences
Would you tell me about your previous labour experience?
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Professional expectations
Which are your future expectations?
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Experiences of discrimination
Have you ever had a discrimination on your work place? Why?
How did you solve the situation?
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Labour situation of other family members as well as brief
explanation of their professional trajectories
Which kind of job do your family have? Would you briefly tell me
of their professional experiences?
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Subjective perception about the role of work in her life
Which role has the job in your life?
7) ECONOMIC DIMENSION / INCOME
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General incomes of the household: own incomes – family
incomes (level of dependence of the interviewee in relation to
family incomes), sources of incomes (work, social benefits,
private subsidies…)
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-
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Which is the whole income of your family? And your one? Which
are your income sources?
Economical problems (problems to make ends meet, debts…),
subjective perceptions about her material living conditions,
factors causing economical problems.
Does your income allow you to be autonomous and to support
your family? Are you satisfied with the life level you have with
your income?
Access to social benefits: being recipients of social benefits,
types, quantity, conditions, possible problems of accessibility…
Do you use social benefits? If yes, which? Did you have any
problems to obtains it? Which?
Consumption habits
Are there any fixed expenses in your monthly income? Which? If
you can permit any superfluous, what do you buy?
8) POLITIC DIMENSION
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Citizenship status
Which is your citizenship?
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Migratory trajectories and experiences (in case of migrant
interviewees and in case the information has not appeared in
the other dimensions)
When and why did you choose to live your country? Would you
tell me your experience?
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Relationship with the justice
Did you have any trouble with justice? Which kind of? How did
you solve it?
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Participation in the political system through general, regional
and local elections
Do you usually vote?
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Participation in other political mechanisms beyond
institutional ones
Do you make any other political participation? Which?
the
Perceptions and opinions about the political system and other
mechanisms of social participation
Does politic interest you? How do you express your interest?
What do you think of the actual political system?
Participation and experiences in relation with labour groups
(Trade Unions, works committee, possible conflicts, demands…)
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Are you part of any trade union? Why did you choose ?Tell me
about your experience.
Social and political demands in relation with her situation
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