Breaking Tradition: Cohabitation and Separation Among Muslim-Origin Individuals in France

The cultural integration of Muslim-origin individuals in Western Europe has garnered increasing scientific attention, yet there remains a notable gap in understanding their sexual and family-related behaviors, particularly cohabitation and separation. These behaviors, which are becoming more widespread in Western societies, underscore a significant difference with Muslim societies. Drawing on data from the French immigration surveys (TeO 2008–2020), we employ event history analysis (Cox model) to examine cohabitation and separation tendencies among three groups: first generation, second generation, and natives.The second generation breaks from traditional norms, with cohabitation rates falling between the first generation and natives, while their separation rates are unexpectedly higher than both. Although religiosity remains strong among Muslim-origin individuals across generations, our findings reveal that religiosity explains only a small fraction of the differences between the second generation and the natives.