Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration 2012

The survey on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration, conducted by Statistics Norway in July and August 2012, shows that the proportion agreeing strongly or on the whole that “Most immigrants make an important contribution to the Norwegian working life” increased by 5 percentage points from 2011. The proportion disagreeing or being indifferent (“either – or”) was reduced by 2 percentage points each. The change is statistically significant. Now, 80 percent agree with the statement, the highest percentage measured so far. 11 percent disagree “strongly or on the whole”, while 9 percent answer “either - or” and 1 percent say “don’t know”.

The increase in the proportion thinking that most immigrants make an important contribution to the working life, may be related to the present economic recovery in Norway combined with an all time high level of labour immigration. Labour immigration is generally considered to contribute to Norway’s economic recovery - a recovery strongly in contrast with the debt crisis and the economic recession in Southern European countries.

A little less than three out of four still hold that most immigrants enrich the cultural life in Norway, whereas 86 per cent think that immigrants in Norway should have the same job opportunities as Norwegians. Seven out of ten agree that labour immigration from non-Nordic countries makes a mainly positive contribution to the Norwegian economy, and one out of three thinks that most immigrants abuse the social welfare system, while every second disagree on this. One out of three also thinks that most immigrants represent a source of insecurity in society, while 54 per cent disagree in this. The population almost split in two regarding the question of receiving refugees: 43 per cent think that it should be more difficult for refugees and asylum seekers to obtain a residence permit in Norway, while 44 per cent think that access should remain as today. Only 7 per cent think that it should be made easier. None of these results differ significantly from what was found last year.

The terror actions on July 22nd took place during the collection of data last year. It was therefore possible to ask whether these shocking events affected the answers right after the misdeeds. We found that the reactions to several of the attitude questions were significantly more positive towards immigrants after July 22nd than during the weeks before. Changes in response to the statement about immigrants as a source of insecurity in society were most clear. 70 per cent of the respondents interviewed after July 22 disagreed with this statement, in contrast with 48 per cent among those interviewed before.

This year’s survey indicates that the more positive attitudes shortly after the terror was temporary. In four attitude questions the opinions are significantly less positive towards immigrants in July/August 2012, than in the weeks immediately after the terror actions last year. When this year’s results are compared with the results from all who were interviewed last year, we find - with few exceptions - that present attitudes are not significantly different from the ones measured last year.

The last part of the report shows how the attitudes vary according to background factors such as gender, age, educational level, place of residence, main economic activity etc. Novel of the year is that we investigate the attitudes of the group of respondents who themselves are immigrants or born in Norway of immigrant parents. Immigrants with European background appear in some questions as equally critical or more critical than the majority population. This can be seen in questions regarding abuse of social welfare, recommending assimilation of immigrants, and feeling uncomfortable about having an immigrant as a domestic help or as a future son- or daughter-in-law. In other questions immigrants and their children born in Norway, regardless of country background, express a more positive attitude than the majority, for instance in appreciating immigrant’s labour efforts and wishing an easier access for refugees and asylum seekers to the country.