This contribution discusses the condition of children of immigrants focusing on the relationship between their identity and their capacity to project the future. The starting hypothesis is that there is an ambivalent and bidirectional link between second-generation immigrants and their capacity to aspire. If their particular experience of living between two cultures is an incentive to develop a plural identity useful to plan the future in a global environment, the Italian society risks to impose some restrictions such as media stereotypes and some kind of discimation (e.g. the citizenship law), which reduce their capacity to aspire. Family can play a pivotal role in these contrasting trends. The issue will be discussed presenting the findings of a qualitative research which took place in Reggio Calabria.
Keywords: Second-generation immigrants, aspirations, migration, identity, future, agency.