ABSTRACT_______________________________________________________

This article presents a comparison between the biographical life courses of two generations of immigrants, which are distinguished on the basis of the temporality of
their respective migration experiences. It proposes to shed light, in particular, on the inequality that affects two generations of economically active immigrants who left their countries to live in France : the first cohort consists of immigrants who arrived at the beginning of the 1980s, the second refers to individuals who migrated in the
2000s. Analysing life courses ultimately makes it possible to explain the way in which the development of migration policies has influenced life plans, playing a prominent role in access to social rights and in the career development of immigrant men and women in the context of a gradual weakening of employee status.

Keywords. IMMIGRATION – LIFE COURSES – INTERGENERATIONAL INEQUALITY – PROFESSIONAL INSERTION – ACCESS TO RIGHTS