French census criticised for question on parental birthplace
Groups believe responses could be used to fuel discriminatory policies
Around 80% of people answered the question last year despite it being optional
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France’s 2026 census has been criticised by unions and associations for asking residents about their parents’ birth countries, with calls for people to avoid responding to the optional question.
It follows similar backlash when the question was first included in the 2025 census.
The question ‘Où sont nés vos parents?’ was called ‘dangerous’ by a combined group of unions and charities including the CGT, Solidaires, League of Human Rights, and Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples (MRAP).
They said it “provides a basis for policies that divide and discriminate,” in a joint-press release on Monday (January 19).
“This question… is a step toward treating differently, in public policy, those whom some call ‘native French’ and all the others whom they exclude from their ‘national preference’.”
“We don’t want the geographical origin of our parents to become a benchmark for policies that affect us.”
Last year, only around 20% of respondents did not answer the question despite it being optional.
The 2026 census is taking place in hundreds of locations across France, with residents having until February 14 or 21 to complete the survey if required.
Fears of discrimination
The census is conducted annually with different communes chosen each year to participate.
In 2025, a new optional question asking about the birthplace of respondents’ parents was included for the first time.
National statistics body Insee, responsible for conducting the census, said it had only been included after ‘lengthy consultation’ to ensure it was appropriate.
“The question about the parents’ place of birth will allow us to account for the diversity of the population and to document issues of residential mobility between generations and spatial segregation,” said Insee last year, adding that the data was “strictly confidential” and not shared with other authorities.
However, it faced criticism from several groups including the League of Human Rights, with criticism renewed this year.
Concerns over ‘national preference’ are central, referring to policies promoted by the far-right Rassemblement National that would give French citizens first rights to public aid and employment in France.
Such measures were included in policy plans put forward by the party following the 2024 legislative elections.
“The danger is too great for it to be used as a tool for discrimination in the current, particularly xenophobic climate we are experiencing,” said president of the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples (MRAP) association Agnès Cluzel to France3.
“We questioned the Interior Ministry about the reasons that led them to add this question, and they told us that it would not be used to implement a policy of affirmative action,” said spokesperson for the Solidaures union branch in Landes Hervé Mazure to BFMTV.
“It shocked us even more. If it's not positive discrimination, it's negative discrimination. We think it will categorise people based on their parents' origins,” he added.
