The participation of immigrant women in the labour market. The cases of France and Italy

Giovanna Tattolo, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

The feminisation of migration flows, coinciding with an increase in the share of women amongst first-generation migrants, including for work purposes, makes it all the more important to examine the conditions governing the entry of foreign women into the labour market. France and Italy are representative of two very different trends. The European Community Labour Force Survey highlights the progress made in France and in Italy between 1993 and 2003 in the participation rates of immigrant women. In 2003, in France it apparent that immigrant women participate less in the labour market than their male counterparts (57% and 75,8%) and less also than female nationals (64%). In the opposite in Italy, as the countries of Southern Europe and Luxembourg, the participation rates of immigrant women are always higher than those of female nationals (55% and 49%), and lower than immigrant male participation rate (89,8%) this last is also higher than male nationals (74,5%). The aim of this study is to assessed detailled indicators on labour participation of women from third country nationals in France and Italy showing the diversity of situations according to their country of origin and by controlling by various dependents factors related to migration processes (the length of stay as well as the reason for migration) and socio-demographic characteristics (number of children and educational attainment). Census data will be used (instead of Labour force survey) because significant number of records are needed to focus on specific components of the migrant population. The Census data used are available in an individual format allowing specific tabulations and statistical analysis (regressions models). Preliminary results confirm a large heterogeneity of the migrant population in each country regarding the propensity to be active. Differences in age profile show the influence of other factors to be controlled by.