Ukrainians in Italy are mostly recent labor migrants.^[1] As of 31 December 2010, there were 380,000 Ukrainians in Italy. Many Ukrainian women make a living in Italy as caretakers for the elderly, terminally ill, children or entire families.^[2] Mistrustful of retirement homes, Italians have embraced Ukrainian migrants as an answer to a shortage of Italian in-home caregivers (making Ukrainians the fourth-largest immigrant community in Italy),^[3] a professional role snubbed by many native Italians, due to its physical difficulty and emotional stress.^[4]

Numbers and gender

According to a National Institute of Statistics (Istat) report about foreigners in Italy, there are 223,782 Ukrainians in Italy as of 2012, and about 80% of them are women.^[5] With many Ukrainian caregivers believed to be working or residing in Italy illegally, other estimates of their numbers range broadly, from 600,000 to 1 million.^[6] And while most Ukrainian immigrants eventually want to come back to Ukraine, some are choosing to stay permanently, becoming a part of the Italian society.

Religion

In the years 2011 and 2012 the ISTAT made a survey regarding the religious affiliation among the immigrants in Italy, the religion of the Ukrainian people in Italy were as follows:^[7]

• Christianity: 90.8%, of which Orthodox Christians 68%, Catholics 22.5% and Protestants 0.3%
• Muslims: 0.1%
• Non religious: 5.6%
• Other religions: 3.5%

Ukrainian-Italian institutions

• Amateur theatre "Berehynia"^[8]

Notable people