To return or to stay? The situation of Romanian badanti in Italy during the Coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

The study explores the situation of Romanian work migrants employed in elderly home care (badanti) in Italy, in the context of temporary restrictions on the freedom of movement within the European Union during the coronavirus pandemic. The general objective of the research consists in contributing to the understanding of how a particular situation of crisis and the subsequent restrictions enforced may impact the socio-professional category in question. In this context, an exploratory investigation was conducted, by the use of semi-structured interviews with people who have or used to have this occupation in Italy. The aim of the interviews was to identify particular, subjective aspects of their experiences, and, at the same time, to investigate their perception of the transformations occurred due to this crisis. The results of the study offer insight on the individual decision-making process in the matter of remaining in Italy, returning to the country of origin or re-migrating, and the ways in which short-time legislative changes affected these decisions, as well as the effects of the pandemic on this specific socio-economic category.