Post WWII right up to the 70's Italy had mass emigration> Reasons given are 'the poverty and lack of jobs and income opportunities caused by poor agricu

Post WWII right up to the 70's Italy had mass emigration> Reasons given are 'the poverty and lack of jobs and income opportunities caused by poor agriculture, which pushed Italians from both the North and the South to look for better chances abroad.' [1]. Thanks to this migration wave, East Belgium still has a very extended Italian descendant community. East Belgium is where the former coal mines were where most migrants found employment. Even today, you might have noticed these areas suffered more than average from COVID-19 because of the strong Italian connections where the virus hit hardest in early 2020. [1] 'Italian Migration' http://ftp.iza.org/dp938.pdf http://ftp.iza.org/dp938.pdf [pdf]