The professional situation of immigrants who obtained their first resident permit in France is very different between women and men a year after obtaining this permit. It also varies depending on their migration trajectories, or on whether they have a spouse or children. Although they are more qualified, women are nine times more likely to be inactive and three times less likely to be in full-time employment than men are.

These differences can partly be explained by the migration project: only one woman out of ten obtained a permit for economic reasons, against one man out of three, and permits for economic reasons are associated with high employment rates since part of them are delivered conditionally on obtaining a work permit. 75% of women obtained permits for family reasons, against 50% of men.

However, the reason of admission does not fully explain the observed differences: for a given reason of admission, women are less often in employment. For women, given other characteristics, the probability of being inactive increases with the number of children and with the fact of living with a spouse. However, having a higher education qualification increases their probability of being in full-time employment. For men, full-time employment remains the most common situation, regardless of sociodemographic characteristics.