Gosselin Anne, Desgrées du Loû Annabel, Lelievre E., Lert F., Dray-Spira R., Lydie N., Parcours Study Group. (2018). Understanding settlement pathways of African immigrants in France through a capability approach : do pre-migratory characteristics matter ?. European Journal of Population, 34 (5), 849-871. ISSN 0168-6577.
Titre du document
Understanding settlement pathways of African immigrants in France through a capability approach : do pre-migratory characteristics matter ?
Gosselin Anne, Desgrées du Loû Annabel, Lelievre E., Lert F., Dray-Spira R., Lydie N., Parcours Study Group
Source
European Journal of Population, 2018,
34 (5), 849-871 ISSN 0168-6577
With the increase in asylum-related immigration since 2015, understanding how immigrants settle in a new country is at the centre of social and political debate in European countries. The objective of this study is to determine whether the necessary time to settle for Sub-Saharan Africa immigrants in France depends more on pre-migratory characteristics or on the structural features of the host society. Taking a capability approach, we define settlement as the acquisition of three basic resources: a personal dwelling, a legal permit of a least 1year and paid work. We use data from the PARCOURS survey, a life-event history survey conducted from 2012 to 2013 that collected 513 life histories of Sub-Saharan African immigrants living in France. Situations regarding housing, legal status and activity were documented year by year since the arrival of the respondent. We use a Kaplan-Meier analysis and chronograms to describe the time needed for settlement, first for each resource (personal dwelling, legal permit and paid work) and then for the combined indicator of settlement. Discrete-time logistic regressions are used to model the determinants of this settlement process. Overall, women and men require 6 and 7years (medians), respectively, to acquire basic resources in France. This represents a strikingly long period of time in which immigrants lack basic security. The settlement process varies according to gender, but very few sociodemographic factors influence settlement dynamics. Therefore, the length of the settlement process may be due to structural features of the host society.
