Immigration as been triggered by pulling factors, which are conditions that incline immigrant groups to migrate such as economy, health and religious tolerance. Poverty, overpopulation, and natural disaster all spurred Italian emigration. In Italy at the start of 1870s, the birthrates rose and the death rate fell, and because of the decrease in mortality rate overpopulation became a major problem, especially in Il Mezzogiorno, the southern and poorest provinces of Italy. Overpopulation affected the country in education as the illiteracy rate rose to 70 percent in southern Italy in the late 1900, which was ten times greater than some other European countries. The government of Italy was highly influenced by northerners and thus southerners were affected by the northerners’ domination in the government. The northerners hurt the southerners through high taxes and high protective tariffs on northern industrial goods. Southerners were further hurt from the scarcity of cultivatable land, soil erosion and deforestation, and a lack of coal and iron ore needed by the Italian manufacturing industry. Southern Italians suffered from exploitation by people of the same nationality and religion. This situation led to a reliance on family, kin, and village ties. Life in the South revolved around “la famiglia” (family) and “l’ordine della famiglia” (the rules of family behavior and responsibility). During the early 20th century natural disasters affected southern Italy. Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried a town near Naples. The Mount Etna erupted. In 1908 an earthquake and tidal wave swept through the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian mainland, killing more than 100, 000 people in the city of Messina. Italians have a long migration history, which was a coping strategy to poverty and dislocation within the country, especially southern Italy. During the 19th century, the major final destination for Italians was South American, Argentina. The northerners tended to migrate to the North America, United States. Immigrants coming from the south formed communities and institutions, which reflected the region’s fragmentation. Italian immigrants established hundreds of mutual aid societies, based upon kinship and place of birth.The Italians headed for cities mainly, because the labor force was needed there and the wages were higher. They were particularly likely to take heavy construction jobs, and about half of all the late 19th century immigrants were manual laborers. Italians were contracted out by a professional labor broker known as a padrone. They would dig tunnels, laid railroad tracks, constructed bridges and roads. Italians hoped that they stay temporarily in the migrated country, and thus lived as inexpensively as possible. They desired an opportunity to work for a living, hoping to save enough money to return to a better life in the country of their birth. Most times the Italian immigrants were males; they had left behind their wives and children, which was an indication that this move was not permanent.

See Italian Economy for a discussion of the following:

General economic structure

-General economic structure (Capitalist, Socialist, mixed)

-Role of the free market

-Role of social services (welfare)

-Industries and services owned by the government (nationalized)

-General state of the economy (including numbers of unemployed)

European Union (EU)

-Role of Italy in the European Union

-Status of Italian Citizens in the EU

-Economic benefits to Italy of the EU

Class structure

-Class structure and its significance in the past

-Class structure and its significance today

Immigration

-Attitudes to new immigrant groups

-The role of immigrants in the economy

When texts talk about how the economy works in Britain they generally refer to . . .

See British Economy for a discussion of the following:

General economic structure

-General economic structure (Capitalist, Socialist, mixed)

-Role of the free market

-Role of social services (welfare)

-Industries and services owned by the government (nationalized)

-General state of the economy (including numbers of unemployed)

European Union (EU)

-Role of Britain in the European Union

-Status of British Citizens in the EU

-Economic benefits to Britain of the EU

Class structure

-Class structure and its significance in the past

-Class structure and its significance today

Immigration

-Attitudes to new immigrant groups

-The role of immigrants in the economy

See Israeli Economy for a discussion of the following:

General economic structure

-General economic structure (Capitalist, Socialist, mixed)

-Role of the free market

-Role of social services (welfare)

-Industries and services owned by the government (nationalized)

-General state of the economy (including numbers of unemployed)

Class structure

-Class structure and its significance in the past

-Class structure and its significance today

Immigration

-Attitudes to new immigrant groups

-The role of immigrants in the economy