No abstract

Panel data covering the French population before and after the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic reveal that self-reported health and well-being have improved during the lockdown in comparison to previous years. We name this counterintuitive phenomenon the "eye of the hurricane" paradox: the large majority of individuals who are not infected by the virus may be seeing their current condition in a more positive light than they normally would. There are, however, divergences across social groups that reflect socioeconomic inequalities. In particular, blue-collar workers deviate from the prevailing trend as their level of self-reported health declines over the lockdown period, Parisian residents experience a sudden drop in their subjective well-being, and people working long hours at home exhibit higher levels of stress during the quarantine.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the empirical link between the naturalization of immigrants and their subsequent employment status in France from 1968 to 1999.Design/methodology/approachFor that purpose, longitudinal data coming from a panel dataset which follows almost 1 percent of the French population from 1968 to 1999 through information contained in the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990 and 1999 French censuses were used. Control for the potential endogeneity of the naturalization process was through a bivariate probit model.FindingsIt was found that naturalization has a significant positive relationship with immigrants' subsequent employability. This is particularly true for groups of immigrants who have a low probability of employment in the host country.Research limitations/implicationsThe dataset can only measure statistical association between naturalization and employment, given the lack of timing information. Interpretation in terms of causality is thus not permitted.Originality/valueThe dataset used is especially valuable for studying social integration of immigrants, since it allows significant samples of immigrants, according to their country of origin, these groups being generally too small in other surveys.