My husband and I have always wanted to emigrate to Italy, even before we knew each other. I have finally gotten my citizenship and passport and when we sell our house here, we will emigrate. That said, we are novices at the particulars. We have drive, desire and perserverance, but not a lot of real inside knowledge regarding where to live in Italy. I know how bad the economic situation is for Italians at present and after a year or so, we will need to find work. My husband is a landscape artist and I want to find work away from my field (legal secretary, which would not work in Italy) so I am open. We are in our 50s. We have done research of course, but that is not the same as hearing from those of you who live in Italy. We are moderate income and will not own a car once we move so we need to be away from the city centers for monetary reasons but be in places where public transport is handy. I would be grateful for any and all thoughts and information about "easier" places to live in Italy and what your thoughts are on the real daily economic hardships Italians are currently facing. As a citizen, will I have difficulty finding work? We will speak decent Italian by the time we get there. Thanks for your input.
MariaInBaltimore
A location similar to Teramo in Abruzzo would likely work. Decent transportation system so no car necessary if you locate yourselves within walking distance of city centery. It is a university town of about 50k people with plenty of houses and apartments going for ~500-700 euros/month. But not easy for foreigners to find work outside of ESL gigs.
Italy on a Shoestring Budget
I live in a similar size city in the North and I'd certainly say that's the sort of size you should be aiming for. Although I have a car it gets used as little as possible, and at the moment all my work is within walking distance, so it's only justifiable on social grounds: for away games when we play football, for skiing and visiting friends. The nearest big city is a train ride away.
As for work: that's the difficult one. I have other income which I need to top up with local English teaching work, which until recently was mainly in local state schools, but that's gone by the board now due to the education cuts. I recently picked up an evening class and hope to get more commercial courses from a company I know later in the year, but if I had to rely on earning here I'd be in the mire. Work has mostly come through contacts and knowing people. I've English speaking friends and aquaintances but they are invariably with an Italian partner and have local links.
There is poorly paid work around: bar work for example and, in tourist areas such as mine, seasonal work where English is an advantage. The snow is arrriving and so is such work in my skiing area at least... The guy who delivers my gas bottles is an Albanian, and the men's section of my amateur football club has players from various countries, and they seem to survive, but I suppose it all depends on what you are used to and can accept.
Certainly the verb you should learn is "arrangiarsi" although the dictionary definitions don't do it justice and don't quite convey the concept of "something will come up". ..
So, your kind replies beg the ultimate question: Is it foolish of us to think we can find work that will support us? Is the reality that if you are emigrating to Italy, you need to have money to support yourself, that anything other than that is a recipe for failure?
MariaInBaltimore
HI Maria,
What I am about to share with you may be very hard to believe for many........but here is the cold hard facts......I am a dual citizen as of June of this year. As you can see from my sign in name I was on a mission.....mission completed. I have been here going on 3 months. It is important to state that I live in Puglia...in a truly fantasy land that I warmly call Hobbitville....but that is for another time. I will report from a retirement standpoint as that is how I live. I also will add my friends in Abruzzo have also confirmed the numbers I will share with you in there area. I am really not interested in a debate over them either...these are hard fact numbers that I report on to many of my followers on a weekly basis who are looking to make this journey or ones similar. I live in a small villa.....(just me)....about the size of a 1 bedroom apt. However....my villa has a 2 garage under the villa which was more important to me. It has a small porch that looks over an olive orchard and it is surrounded by the Trulli of the southern Puglian area. It sits on 2-1/2 acres of land and has 18 olive trees (enough for my annual olive oil needs), 5 monsterous fig trees, 6 plum trees, 4 pomegranate trees, 1 cleminetine, 3 large cherry trees, 24 almond trees, 6 walnut trees, 1 apricot tree, black berry bushes, raspberry bushes, some kind of cactus that the Italians eat the fruit off of. In addition it is surrounded by a 4' foot dry stone wall and a large front gate. It is 6 miles from Martina Franca and Ceglie Messapica. I can get to the ocean (2) within a 1 hour drive. That kind of gives you a quick picture of the abode. lol Now I have to pay rent, utilities as in my heat and water supply, internet....high speed, car insurance, food (I eat very well) and the general day to day things. In the past 3 months not once has my expenses gone over $850/mo and that includes having several dinners for my friends here. Needless to say I am still getting the lay of the land. You can rent a larger villa here 2-3 bedrooms for around 350-500 EURO. Remember my expenses that I gave you is in dollars. Now the down side and there is one.......as a citizen there are several large expenditures that you have to prepare for as in having the dollars to make the move. Getting whatever stuff you are bringing here from there, setting up internet (cost me 400 euro plus 30 euro/mo....., buying a car....a beater is the way to go until you get sitiuated......2000 euro for something you would not be ashamed to drive in, car insurance (1800 euro/year) there is chaeper but I did not qualify because of an accident a few years ago and several other things that would easily amount to $7500-$10,000.....but once you get here, the cost is what I expressed. Now for two you would need to adjust your food bill but I budget 25 euro a week for one but will go over a little when I add the once every 2 months things like soap detergent and the like. With respect to your "stuff" you will hear everything about leaving everything and coming with 2 suitcases........I filled a 40 foot container with 2 cars (entered Vat and duty free...and I can help you there..these were classics and it can be done..regardless of what you hear) 200 boxes (half classic car stuff), furniture, clothes, etc.........most of it is in storage now but will be coming out as things progress here.....and to have my own stuff here is great. I have ALL my US appliances as in small stuff here including my stereo rack system all running on power converters.......including my electric blanket and American coffee pot. Now don't get me wrong...I am totally interested in totally integrating with the Italian lifestyle and people.......just at my own pace. Also, the only appliance that did not work on a converter was my dehumidifier...so with that said.....and after 3 months here and making over 30 friends (mostly English speakers) and a few Italians....I can without the slighest hesitation tell if you can muster $1200 per month in addition to the initial setup costs here......there is La Dolce Vita........truly and it is here at least in southern Italy as well as Abruzzo.
Ogni Viaggio Inizia Dal Primo Passo
The cost of living in Puglia and many other areas of South where Italy-Bound is located is much lower than in places like Florence, Rome and many northern cities. The trade off is that are fewer work opportunities - as in next to none in many areas.
But if you can make it off what you have coming in from social security or other retirement accounts in the States, you could make it. If you could find some kind of location-independent freelance work that you could do over the internet, all the better.
And that statement about work is understated in Cobalt's answer....and I think "work" was the original question........however I think Maria and husband may be close to retirement age........if I read her original post correctly and she said she was selling her house which if there is a profit could make it a slam dunk as far as "living comfortably" here if that is your true goal.
As a side note and as I indicated in my post I have many British friends all retired for the most part....and almost all work for other Brits who have vacation places here......not condoning anything but it is a fact..............the rest can be figured out.......all part time mind you....but people find out how and what to do....but in all honesty...if you are coming here as a young person...couple and NEED to work..........definietly stay away from the southern area unless you have income other than what you would expect to make here.......
Cobalt could not be closer to the truth.........really difficult.......
Ogni Viaggio Inizia Dal Primo Passo
I don't mean to be depressing but the job situation in Italy is in dire straits, even in the North, worse in the South.
My company announced the closing of the head office in Turin last year, I've been sending out CVs since then and still haven't found another job. I think the main reason is my age - I will be 51 years old in December and companies in Italy are not interested in paying a normal (low) salary as they get incentives for hiring younger works btw 19-30 years old. The can give these younger workers apprentice contracts at 400€/month or "contratti di formazione" for two years at 800€/month.
I am an English - French - Italian native speaker and have over 30 yrs work experience under my belt; !5 years as a research secretary / student services assistant in a Canadian university, 15 years work experience in Italy in a multinational company working as a customer service sales export assistant. Unless you have some $$$ to help you through, I would not move to Italy until things get better.
I am now on what they call "cassa integrazione straordinaria" for a year that pays around 800€ a month, it doesn't come close to covering my mortgage payments. If the state still has money I may get a 2nd year of CIGS and then what they call "mobilità" where they pay you 20% less of the amount you receive in Cassa. This is my situation and I continue looking for an office job...I am now trying to re-organize to give English and French lessons on the side, but when the whole city is in crisis even the normal prices of 12-15€/hour have to be reduced to a minimum of 10€/hour.
The situation is becoming quite desperate here, and my husband who works for a company that supplies the automotive industry is also in trouble.....if he also loses his job, we are in danger of losing our house as we have a mortgage and a 10 year old son. We absolutely need 2 salaries to keep up the payments and all the other expenses.
Good luck to you if you decide for Turin...it's a great city with lots of decent places to visit and a nice downtown area, public transportation has improved since the Olympics were held here in 2006, but the job situation at this time is horrendous.
Oh Pinguina, that does sound grim. Thank goodness I paid of the mortgage a few years ago and don't have dependents...
One thing I would say though, is don't go too low on your teaching prices unless you are really going for volume. The market here for tutoring (through what I've heard in the school staffroom and other places) is 25, even 28 for French, Maths etc. from well-qualified individuals. Not many demur at 25, although no doubt you'd open up a different market at the lower price. The local university has just started a free course - drat. Firstly taking away potential students and secondly, why didn't I get the gig?!
Thanks for replying....I have a couple of people lined up who are interested in English and French, one is a professional so I will keep in mind the prices you quoted above. I have a friend who takes English and French courses at the university in Turin, but the English teacher is teaching her Chaucer and Shakespeare which are completely useless in the Business world.
I hope things will take a turn for the better in 2013....2012 has been a real downer.
take care,
Anna
I'll just like to add, it's dire straits in every country in the world at the moment for finding work!
and if you are old, even harder.
really depends on your skills.
the world is over populated, and their are to many over qualified people.
but that doesn't mean you can't find work, you just need to be smart and find work in the right places.
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