Is there really such thing as immigrant spatial assimilation in France? Desegregation trends and inequality along ethnoracial lines

Abstract

This article describes patterns of ethnoracial and socioeconomic neighborhood attainment among North African, sub-Saharan African, and South European immigrants in France. We use French data from Trajectories and Origins to document the effects of assimilation variables such as immigrant generation, age at migration, parental age at migration, mixed ascendance, and socioeconomic status that are rarely available in large scale surveys. A simultaneous equation design is used to show patterns in ethnoracial and socioeconomic desegregation across groups and the contrasting ways in which these outcomes overlap. The findings highlight the weak impact of assimilation variables in accounting for spatial trajectories compared to the predominance of ethnoracial group, and document a higher risk of cumulative spatial disadvantage among North Africans and sub-Saharan Africans. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for understanding the ethnoracial dimensions of socio-spatial stratification in France.