Female migration from Portugal and activity on arrival in France: a variety of personal and family strategies

Portuguese immigration to France has involved both men and women since the 1960s. Whether married or single, migrant women have responded to the call for labour in industry and the service sector. Analysis of data from the Mo bilite Geographique et Insertion Sociale survey INED-INSEE, 1992) revealed that a considerable proportion of women born in Portugal, migrating as adul ts and still resident in France in 1992 sought stable employment in France shortly after their arrival in France. In order to study the relationship b etween women's characteristics and the search for paid work, various types of analysis were conducted. A descriptive variable combined the statuses of women with respect to living with a partner or not at the time of migratio n and to having at that time one or more children. Each of our analyses sho wed this indicator to be pertinent in differentiating the women and also in the study of their entry into the labour market during the first year of r esidence. These analyses are part of a wider exploration of the hypothesis of an active role of women living with a partner at the time of migration i n planning the migration. Although the survey does not question women about their opinions, attitudes or values, by situating paid employment or inact ivity within the context of female employment in Portugal at the time of th ese migrations took place, we are led to suppose that wives and mothers had a certain degree of power in negotiating day-to-day decisions, particularl y in relation to their entry into the labour market.