HASAs the French population ages, it is immigration that now accounts for the majority of the increase in the employed active population in France. But this fact is left aside in the formulation of public policies, particularly those of employment, housing and pensions. Immigrants are the first victims of this unthinking, pernicious in many ways.
In France, debates on the lasting presence of foreigners on the national territory are lively. In our country, which has long been a land of immigration, the clear opposition between the universal duty of asylum and the concern to preserve a national identity raises many questions. Among them: once foreigners are on our soil, what is their place and their role? These questions are rarely addressed because of their intrinsic complexity and their extrinsic determinants of an ideological nature.
If immigration has increased significantly over the past twenty years (+ 30%), it is clearly below the average of other European countries. It boosts a declining demographics. As baby boomers retire, generations arrive reduced by an average of 100,000 people. Over the past twenty years, immigration figures, fairly stable since 1975, have started to rise, regardless of the numerous speeches and laws on “controlling migratory flows”. Between 2009 and 2020, the share of the metropolitan working population made up of immigrants – people born foreigners abroad – increased by 23.5% (that of non-immigrants by 1.1%). The increase in the employed immigrant active population represented two-thirds of the increase in this population, at a rate of 86,000 people per year, between 2014 and 2021.
Qualitative improvement
Immigration is the result of a young population likely to take up jobs abandoned by an aging population. Consequently, if we want to respond to the problem of certain professions essential to the functioning of entire sectors of our economy (construction, catering, logistics, Uberized services, personal assistance services, etc.), characterized by a high proportion of people in an irregular situation – or “jobs in tension” – we must draw the consequences in terms of regularization.
Economic immigration is experiencing continuous qualitative improvement. Before 1998, the percentage of immigrants with bac + 2 and beyond reached only 21%, compared to 35% today. The increase in the number of immigrants studying in France, then settling there to work, has played its role. In addition, the improvement in the employment rate among immigrants is continuous (61.2% in 2021 compared to 55.7% in 2014) and stronger than the average. The key element to getting out of this situation is known: ensuring serious language training for everyone. What is done within the framework of republican integration contracts, whether for refugees or not, deserves to be amplified.
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