Study examines integration of young people of foreign origin

Download article in original language : FR0211102NFR.DOC

A report from France's Economic and Social Council on the social integration of young people of foreign extraction, adopted in September 2002, highlights the interdependent and cumulative nature of the discrimination affecting these members of society. Problems include disparities in achievement in the school system, unequal access to employment and concentration in deprived areas.

The bureau of the consultative Economic and Social Council (Conseil économique et social, CES) (FR9910115N) recently asked its social affairs section to conduct a study on 'the integration of young people of foreign origin'. The report - drafted by Mouna Viprey, a researcher with the Economic and Social Research Institute (Institut de recherches économiques et sociales, IRES) - was endorsed in September 2002 and subsequently published (L’insertion des jeunes d’origine étrangère, Avis et rapports du Conseil économique et social, Les éditions des Journaux Officiels, 2002-n°12).

The report deals not only with young foreign nationals in France but also first-generation French citizens, who despite holding French passports, are found to be the victims of ethnic discrimination. The report finds that the same factors underpin discrimination against young people from French overseas territories and départements, who have been French citizens for several generations.

The report's value is three-fold:

1. it provides a critical overview of a whole range of statistical, legal, sociological and economic studies dealing with achievement and disparities in the school system, access to vocational training, government employment schemes and subsequent employment, urban segregation, and barriers (real and perceived) to the development of 'cultural identity' among young people of foreign origin;

2. by compiling the findings of generally disparate studies conducted by experts in various disciplines, the report highlights the fact that the various forms of discrimination, both deliberate and unintentional, are interlinked. The concentrations of young people of foreign extraction in 'problem areas' of cities and towns means that they attend low-achievement schools with a disproportionately large population of disadvantaged students and correspondingly lower chances of success. Failure or under-achievement in the education system significantly increases the likelihood of students becoming unemployed or finding unstable employment, which, in turn, fosters behaviour associated with low morale or a desire to rebel against society. Violent behaviour only serves to entrench discrimination. Experience shows that despite some remarkable success stories, it is extremely difficult to break these vicious circles; and

3. the report identifies growing contradictions between traditional French ideals of 'republican equality', which promote the full integration of foreigners into French culture, and the development of complex and heterogeneous types of distinct ethnic identity, both as a reaction to feelings of alienation and as a manifestation of independence and uniqueness.

The CES social affairs section endorsed the report with 15 votes in favour and six abstentions. It was approved by the representatives of the three largest trade unions - the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and the General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) - and by representatives of the voluntary sector. Among the abstainers were representatives of private sector employers and the two other main trade union confederations - the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff-General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Confédération française de l'encadrement-Confédération générale des cadres, CFE-CGC) and the French Christian Workers' Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC),. Private sector employers criticised the report for failing to focus sufficiently on the positive role played by companies in integrating young people of foreign origin. CFE-CGC contended that excessive importance had been given to problems in this area, when in fact examples of successful integration do exist.

Strong employment growth between late 1997 and early 2001 barely trickled down to young people of foreign extraction. This raises concerns about the potential impact of the current deteriorating labour market situation on this sector of society. It was important to bring the seriousness and increasingly cumulative nature of this problem to light. The report highlights the fact that the central issue is not one of nationality, in the legal sense, but rather of the stigmatisation of ethnic minorities within the framework of legal rules and formally egalitarian institutions.