Trajectories and Origins. Survey on population diversity in France
The TeO survey aims to identify the impact of origins on living conditions and social trajectories while taking account of other sociodemographic characteristics, i.e. social environment, neighbourhood, age, cohort, sex and educational level.
The questions of integration and discrimination are at the centre of public debate. But France still lacks national statistics to study these issues. The TeO survey is designed to supply data for this purpose.
TeO covers all populations living in metropolitan France (mainland and Corsica), their current living conditions and their trajectories. The survey focuses on populations whose life course may be adversely affected by factors linked to their physical appearance (immigrants, descendants of immigrants, persons from the French overseas territories and their descendants).
The TeO survey was conducted jointly by INED and INSEE. It was closely supervised by the official bodies which oversee the collection and use of public statistics (CNIS; CNIL). It guarantees scrupulous respect for respondents’ rights: all participants were surveyed on a voluntary and anonymous basis.
Data collection (from 22,000 respondents in metropolitan France) took place between September 2008 and February 2009. Initial results will be published in early 2010.
Survey content
Although the issues of immigration, integration and discrimination are major topics of public debate in France, very few statistics on these questions are available. Data on immigrants or on persons born in the French overseas territories living in France say little about their trajectories. Data on immigrants’ descendants or on persons with one parent born in an overseas territory are also scarce and, where they exist, often cover very wide categories. Yet the rare studies on access to employment of young French-born adults with at least one immigrant parent show that they are victims of job discrimination. Other questions remain unanswered or have not been followed up in recent years.
What are the material conditions of life for immigrants in France today? And what becomes of their children? What are their life trajectories? Are there any differences between migrants from different origins, and between different migration waves? What are the living conditions in France of persons born in the French overseas territories and of their descendants? What are the obstacles to economic, social and civic integration of these populations? What is their experience of discrimination, and does it affect their employment, education and residential opportunities?
The TeO survey aims to:
- study living conditions at the time of the survey, but also the social trajectories of respondents in a variety of social domains (education, employment, housing, civic participation, etc.);
- identify the impact of origins on the living conditions and social trajectories of individuals, while taking account of other sociodemographic characteristics, namely social environment, neighbourhood, age, cohort, sex, educational level.
By studying the impact of origins, the aim is to identify not only discrimination linked to origins, but also the networks of solidarity that provide support to individuals on the basis of these same origins.
The full description of the project and the questionnaire can be downloaded.
To obtain more details, see the French website.