Chronicle of immigration: special topic

The author critically assesses data from the 1982 Family Survey, which examined fertility levels and trends among immigrants to France. "For lack of more accurate data, the total fertility rates of foreign nationals have been taken to reflect changes over time, and...assumptions on the convergence of their fertility behaviour to that of French nationals have been made. The evident deficiencies of such methods prompted us to undertake an in-depth analysis of the results of the 1982 Family Survey conducted by INSEE.... The survey population...was exclusively female and information collected was largely individual. 23,000 women born outside France were interviewed...."