Migration histories and socioeconomic profiles

This chapter presents the different population groups studied in the TeO survey. It defines the categories used in the rest of the book, measures the weight of the various groups of origin in the population of metropolitan France and provides data on the sociodemographic structure of the survey populations. Immigrants and their descendants are often represented in a highly stereotypical manner in public debate. In fact, these populations are extremely heterogeneous, differing not only across origin groups, but also within them. The first part of this chapter looks at the diverse migration histories of populations living in metropolitan France. It presents a typology of these populations based on their link to migration, understood as their national origin at birth associated with a change of residence that led to their settlement in metropolitan France. Part two examines migrants’ main sociodemographic characteristics: age and period of arrival in France, age structure at the time of the survey, sex ratio and social origins. Part three focuses on the structural differences of immigrants’ descendants by their parents’ social and geographical origins. As we shall see throughout the book, the sociodemographic structures described in this chapter shape the trajectories observed in all the areas of social and economic life covered by the survey (education, employment, family formation, housing, health, etc.)