Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration 2013

Abstract

The survey on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration, conducted by Statistics Norway in July and August 2013, shows that the proportion agreeing strongly or on the whole that “Most immigrants make an important contribution to the Norwegian working life” decreased by 8 percentage points from 2012. Seventy-two per cent of people now agree with the statement, while 14 per cent disagree. Last year 80 per cent agreed, which was the highest percentage measured to date. The change is statistically significant.

There is also a statistically significant reduction of 5 percentage points in the share agreeing strongly or on the whole that “Labour immigration from non-Nordic countries makes a mainly positive contribution to the Norwegian economy”. The support for this statement is now 66 per cent, while the share disagreeing is 16 per cent. The proportion answering “either/or” has increased by 4 percentage points and the proportion disagreeing by 2 percentage points.

We also see a minor decrease of 4 percentage points in the proportion agreeing that “Immigrants in Norway should endeavour to become as similar to Norwegians as possible”. There is, nevertheless, still a larger share - 49 per cent - supporting this statement, while 41 per cent disagree.

The share of people claiming to have contact with immigrants has also increased, by 7 percentage points from last year’s unusually low share of 71 per cent. During the last five years, the share that has contact with immigrants has been stable at around three out of four, with last year’s result as an exception.

Half of respondents still disagree with the assertion that “most immigrants abuse the social welfare system”, while a third believe this is true. The corresponding shares for the assertion that immigrants are a “source of insecurity in society” are roughly the same. Seven out of ten agree that most immigrants “enrich the cultural life in Norway”; a few percentage points less than last year, but not statistically significant. The proportion agreeing that “immigrants in Norway should have the same job opportunities as Norwegians”, is unchanged from 2012 at 86 per cent. Forty-two per cent now think it should be more difficult for refugees to obtain a residence permit in Norway, while 47 per cent think that access to permits should remain the same as today. Last year, opinion was split down the middle in relation to this question. As before, 7 per cent think that it should be easier to obtain a residence permit in Norway. None of these changes are statistically significant.

Finally, the report shows how attitudes vary according to different background factors. Basically, women and men have similar attitudes to immigrants, but women are slightly more liberal in relation to some aspects. This is, however, not the case in work-related questions. The most elderly are generally more sceptical towards immigrants and immigration than other age groups. Which of the two youngest groups (16-24 and 25-44 years) is the most immigrant friendly can vary. A breakdown by education, shows that acceptance of immigrants is greatest among the highly educated. Acceptance generally increases as the education level increases, but not always. The same can be said about the effect of the urban/rural dimension, with the greatest degree of benevolence being found in the most urban areas. By geographic region, Akershus and Oslo are generally the most liberal, but other regions can be equally liberal in relation to some aspects. A breakdown by main economic activity shows that people receiving social welfare or pensions are the most negative towards immigrants, whereas persons in employment and pupils/students are the most benevolent. Those who have contact with immigrants are also more accommodating.