Immigrants and descendants of immigrants may share characteristics associated with their origin that could have an influence on their professional situation: surname, religion, skin colour, cultural practices, etc. In addition, immigrants may face specific difficulties related to their migration experience (language learning, recognition of qualifications, administrative barriers due to their nationality, etc.). Thereby, immigrants face both difficulties specific to their migration experience and difficulties associated with their origin., It is possible to distinguish between what is due to the role of origins and what is due to difficulties specific to immigrants in the persistence of inequalities between immigrants and descendants of immigrants.

The role of the origin in the labour market participation of women from the Maghreb and from Turkey is less visible for the descendants of immigrants than for the immigrants, but it still persist for the descendants of immigrants from these origins. Their activity rates are close to the ones of women without direct migration background and without children, but there is a significant gap when they have children.

Difficulties in finding a job are less significant for descendants of immigrants than for immigrants , though they still remain at levels that are sometimes high. These difficulties are more pronounced for men from the Maghreb and, to a lesser extent, for men from sub-Saharan Africa. Some groups, such as immigrants from Turkey and Southern Europe are better able to mobilise their networks to offset language difficulties or low education levels.

Overall, the labour market situation of the descendants of immigrants is better compared to the one of immigrants but this is not the case for all the groups of origin. Once in employment, and after controlling for their characteristics, the situation of descendants of immigrants seems similar to the one of people without any migratory background, both in terms of salary level and employment quality. The salary gaps between immigrants and people without migratory background can not be explained by their origin, but rather by specific difficulties associated with migration. Turkish immigrants are less proficient in French, but they manage to limit the salary gaps compared to immigrants from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. Similarly, when controlling for their characteristics, Turkish descendants receive slightly higher salaries than people with no migratory background.