Employment, Housing and Residence Permits: a dangerous intersection. The Italian case.

Foreign workers represent one of the social subjectivities most exposed to structural marginalisation and institutionalised discrimination. As highlighted by prominent legal scholarship, these individuals face a unique entanglement between housing, employment and residence permits that severely limits their fundamental rights. Indeed, adequate housing is a necessary precondition to obtain or convert a residence permit, yet the Italian legal system often sets more burdensome requirements for foreigners’ access to public housing, while the private market is marked by systemic discrimination. This paradox - where the right to housing depends on already having housing - generates a "double track" of protection that places migrant workers in a structurally subordinate position. The implications become even more critical when analysed in relation to the employer - employee dynamic: the law allows (and in some cases requires) employers to provide a housing “guarantee” for this type of workers, making them dependent on the employers not only for income but also for legal residence. Job loss, even if illegitimate, can thus undermine the right to stay in Italy, producing a dynamic of de facto domination. This study investigates the legal-sociological roots of such mechanisms - whether accidental or systemic - and will draw on both legal analysis and field research.