Moving to Italy, Is It Romanticized?

Q&A with “Wanna Move to Italy American”

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There’s something problematic about an “expat” (who is really an immigrant) expounding only about Italy’s virtues from the pulpit of their rooftop terrace with view of the cupola. This is a bubble of enormous privilege and not the full picture of Italy. I don’t know if North Americans moving to Italy want the full picture, but here’s how I answer their questions:

Wanna: The dolce vita there is practically guaranteed, right?

Me: I’d say it depends on your financial status.

Wanna: I’m watching YouTube videos by newly arrived Americans, who are promoting their move to Italy services.

Me: What are they suggesting?

Wanna: Well, I see them wearing gorgeously tailored clothes, strolling through chic streets, sipping mind-blowing coffee at elegant cafes.

Me: OK, yeah, that’s one aspect…

Wanna: They’re saying Italians are all so happy because they work to live, and that I’ll be so happy! I’m thinking, heck yeah, sign me up.

Me: The people on these promo videos, do you know if they’re retired? With a well-padded retirement fund?

Wanna: I don’t know. I mean, I’m not retired. I’d have to work.

Me: Needing to work in Italy is a totally different thing than hanging out in Italy with a plump retirement fund.

Wanna: I shouldn’t move to Italy if have to work?

Me: You probably shouldn’t.

Wanna: Oh! I can’t just show up and get a job?

Me: No. First, you need a visa, and obtaining a visa that allows you to work for an employer in Italy is as a likely as Caesar Augustus coming back from the dead and re-creating the Roman Empire.

If you already have a job that you can do remotely, Italy did just launch a Digital Nomad Visa. Submitting a declaration to the Italian Consulate from your employer is part of the process. And you have to re-qualify for it yearly.

A lot of Americans don’t realize how shockingly low salaries are in Italy. The economy is the pits. There’s a significant brain drain. Youth have to leave to find work abroad. You’re better off working in the U.S., accumulating a good retirement and then considering a move.

Wanna: So, the videos, you know, of shiny people on red vespas, and sunny vineyards with off-the-charts wine selling for a pittance… is it romanticized?

Me: Oh, honey. I don’t think there’s any place in the world as romanticized as Italy. Hollywood, for one, loves to romanticize the heck out of it. So do the newly arrived Americans in the honeymoon phase.

Wanna: Ok, but what about the “Italians live to work” thing? Doesn’t that make life more relaxed?

Me: It’s reductionist to say Italians are all so happy because they work to live. It’s true that Italy’s culture focuses on spending time with friends and family more than chasing the dollar/euro. This creates less of a rat race energy. However, most working Italians I know feel exploited by egregious work contracts (notorious in Italy), and oppressed by shockingly low salaries and rising costs of living, and stressed by the extreme unemployment problem.

Wanna: Oh. I don’t see the shiny expats talking about that.

Me: Those who’ve been here for decades know this. The newly arrived ones, maybe not. Look, I appreciate the shiny stuff: The spritz in the piazza bathed in golden light. You have these moments where the beauty is ramped up to the highest levels. That’s the dolce vita layer. And there’s stuff happening under that layer. I can’t help it. I’m the type who digs through layers. That’s why I’m a historian.

Promoting only the dolce vita is sparkly and fun but it also short-changes Italy by not acknowledging the troubles it faces.

Wanna: Apart from unemployment and terrible salaries, what else is Italy dealing with?

Me: The number of Italians living in poverty has risen dramatically over the past ten years. The working-age population and their children are particularly affected.

Italy ranks 14th in the EU’s Gender Equality Index—the worst score for any major European economy.

Male violence against women in Italy (normalized for centuries) is a serious, systemic problem that’s rooted in the unequal status of women in Italian society.

Then, there’s the infamous bureaucracy. It’s a monster who gleefully eats up your patience every time you produce more of it.

Wanna: Would I bump into the bureaucracy less if I don’t have to work?  

Me: If you don’t have to work, and have ample funds, you can enjoy more easily, the best of what Italy offers. You can pay someone else to deal with a lot of bureaucracy.

Here in Florence, with enough funds, you can rent a higher-end modernized apartment instead of getting totally demoralized in the rental trenches faced by people on low budgets where the available apartments are pretty darn awful.

Best scenario: You’re retired with ample funds.  

Second best: You marry into an Italian family. Then you’ve got built-in people committed to you, who speak the language better than you, who have resources for slaying bureaucracy monsters.

Last Best: You’re single, need to work, are not marrying an Italian. Work-wise you are far better off in the U.S. And if don’t have family in Italy, the challenges of trouble-shooting things ramp up significantly.

Know which camp you’re in before you get too gobsmacked by the well-healed American couple on YouTube telling you about unicorns and rainbows.

Stay tuned for my two essential things you must know before moving to Italy.