The social situation of the descendants of immigrants is better than that of their parents. This is true regardless of their origin: their standard of living is more favorable, as are their housing conditions. On the other hand, descendants of immigrants claim to have been discriminated against as much as immigrants. This emerges from a survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), published on Thursday, November 21 and titled “France, social portrait. 2024 Edition”. According to these data, from a survey among some 27,000 people between 18 and 59 years old, carried out with the National Institute of Demographic Studies, a quarter of immigrants and descendants of immigrants “declare having experienced unequal treatment or discrimination “often” or “sometimes” during the last five years”.
France has 7.2 million immigrants – 51% of whom are women and a third have acquired French nationality – or 10.6% of the population. The country also has eight million descendants of immigrants (56% of whom have a single immigrant parent). Immigrants or descendants, more than 45% of them are from the African continent.
If we look at the geographical origins of the people who report, the experience of discrimination varies significantly. The descendants of immigrants of European origin are “They are less likely to report experiences of discrimination (13%) than immigrants of the same origin (19%)”. On the other hand, INSEE emphasizes, there is a “paradox of integration” For people of non-European ancestry: “Although they were born in France and completed most of their studies there, they claim to have suffered discrimination more frequently than immigrants of the same origin. » This is the case of 34% of children of immigrants of Asian and African origin, compared to 26% of first-generation immigrants of the same origin.
Faster to detect unequal treatment
How can we explain this gap between generations? For INSEE, this has its origins in part in the fact that descendants of immigrants have younger and more educated profiles and, therefore, are quicker to detect and report this unequal treatment.
In general terms, the geographical origin is the “first factor of discrimination”the study highlights. Thus, an immigrant or descendant of an immigrant from Africa (excluding the Maghreb) is almost three times more likely to have been a victim of discrimination in the last five years than an immigrant or descendant of an immigrant from Southern Europe.
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