Insee Analyses ·
June 2025 · n° 110
The child penalty in labor force participation among immigrants in France is not linked
to their views on gender inequality
“Say whether you agree with the following statement: When there are not many jobs,
men are more entitled to work than women.” This widely used survey item helps capture
attitudes toward gender inequality and sheds light on decisions regarding labor force
participation.
In mainland France in 2019–2020, 70% of women with children completely disagreed with
this statement. This proportion was the same among immigrant and second-generation
immigrant women as it was in the rest of the population.
Among these immigrant and second-generation women, those who completely rejected the
idea that men should be prioritized for jobs, and thus held more egalitarian views,
participated in the labor force more over the course of their lives: the gap was around
10 percentage points after age 35.
Yet after the birth of a first child, all mothers experienced a similar decline in
participation compared to fathers, regardless of their stated beliefs. This “child
penalty” amounts to roughly 15 percentage points over the first ten years following
childbirth.
Overall, while views on gender inequality do influence labor force participation,
they appear to have little impact on how women reconcile work and family life.