Insee Première · February 2023 · n° 1939

How many children do immigrant women have ?

The final offspring of immigrant women residing in metropolitan France in 2019-2020 has decreased over the generations. Those born between 1960 and 1974 had an average of 2.35 children during their lifetime, taking into account births abroad before migration and births in France after their arrival. In the next generation, the final offspring of descendants of immigrants is 1.90 children, very close to that of women without direct migratory background (1.86).

The diploma is a determining factor. The fertility gap between immigrant women and those with no direct migratory background is high for women with few qualifications, but low for those with higher education. These differences vary greatly by country of birth.

The total fertility rate (TFR) focus on recent behaviour. It requires an adjustment when it is calculated for women born abroad, who have high fertility on arrival in France and lower fertility before. The TFR of women born abroad has been relatively stable since 2014, whereas it has fallen for those born in France.