The IMMIGRATION misperception
People in the UK are uninformed about immigration within the country
Asurvey from the European Commission has revealed that most Brits are illinformed about immigration in the UK.
Their findings show that we think immigrants make up more than a fifth of the population when actually the figure is just 8.6 per cent.
One reason for this miscalculation could be the way that immigration is portrayed in the media. In fact, more than half of people surveyed in the UK (54 per cent) believe that our media presents immigrants in a negative way. That’s the highest proportion out of all 28 countries in the EU. More than eight in 10 people in the UK think the media is an important factor in the successful integration immigrants. Despite that, 55 per cent of the population does not feel well informed about immigration and related matters.
While people in the UK miscalculate the proportion of immigrants in the country, the figures suggest general attitudes towards immigration are less hostile.
In fact, 69 per cent of respondents agreed that immigrants have an overall positive impact on the national economy, and 65 per cent agree that immigrants bring new ideas and boost innovation in the UK.
Brits still think that immigrants should adopt the country’s values and norms, however, with 63 per cent stating that this was important.
The report found that just 39 per cent of people think the government is doing enough to foster the integration of immigrants into our society - joint lowest with Sweden.
On average, 51 per cent of people across the EU think their government is doing enough.
Nearly threequarters of the UK population (72 per cent) believe that extending or maintaining the right to vote in local elections would aid the integration of immigrants.
While attitudes towards immigrants are becoming more positive, still nearly a third of people in the UK say they do not frequently interact with migrants. Meanwhile, the results of the survey suggest that attitudes towards immigration generally see a generational divide. The report found that younger respondents, and those who are better educated, are more likely to see immigration as an opportunity, while older respondents and those with lower levels of education are more likely to see it as a problem.