Race and Gender Inequalites Faced by North African Immigrants’ Descendants when Entering the French Labor Market

This research investigates the school-to-work transition of North African immigrants’ descendants in France by focusing on the intersection of race and gender inequalities. For some decades, the descendants of immigrants have been reaching the age of leaving school and entering the labor market. More recently, descendants of non-European immigrants are reaching this crucial step of the transition to adulthood. There is a growing concern regarding their school-to-work transition as they face racial discrimination. We question the “double discrimination” hypothesis which states that second generation women should be the most disadvantaged as they potentially face both racial and gender discrimination. In this light, we analyze the labor market entry of young adults who finished their schooling in 2004 and were followed over five years in the Génération 2004 longitudinal survey. Results show that while descendants of European immigrants do not face racial inequality, those having North African parents are disadvantaged. Regarding women, they do experience gender based disadvantages but the combination of race and gender does not systematically lead them to the most unfavorable labor market outcomes. Therefore, results do not point to a systematic addition of race and gender based disadvantages.