Inequality of educational returns in France: Changes in the effect of education and social background on occupational careers

Abstract : This paper is an extended version of the chapter about France within the comparative volume edited by F. Bernardi and G. Ballarino (2016), Education, Occupation and Social Origin. A Comparative Analysis of the Transmission of Socio-Economic Inequalities, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing. On the basis of the 1977, 1985, 1993 and 2003 Formation & Qualification Professionnelle surveys and various indicators of labour market success, it establishes three main results: after controlling for education, there still exists a ‘direct’ effect of class origin on labour market success which is visible more at an advanced stage of the occupational career than at its outset; this ‘direct’ origin effect varies in strength over educational categories, being weaker or non-existent among the higher-educated, i.e., a higher social background is to a certain extent able to compensate for less prominent educational assets; the ‘direct’ origin effect has strengthened in the recent cohorts or the last decade observed.