Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration 2014

The survey on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration, conducted by Statistics Norway in July and August 2014, shows that the share of people who think it should be easier for refugees and asylum seekers to obtain a residence permit has increased by 11 percentage points since last year. Eighteen per cent of people now think that it should be easier for refugees and asylum seekers to get a residence permit in Norway. This is the highest share since the question was first posed in 2002. The discussion on the issue of accepting refugees from Syria may have provoked the change. Fifty per cent of people now think that access to permits should remain the same as today, while 28 per cent think it should be more difficult. Last year, the share who thought it should be more difficult was 42 per cent.

Compared to last year, the number of people who now recognise immigrants’ contribution to the labour market has once again increased. The share agreeing strongly or on the whole that “most immigrants make an important contribution to Norwegian working life” increased by 5 percentage points, while the share disagreeing decreased by 2 points. Seventy-seven per cent now agree with this statement and 12 per cent disagree. There has also been a growth of 4 percentage points in the share agreeing that “Labour immigration from non-Nordic countries makes a mainly positive contribution to the Norwegian economy”. The support for this statement is now 70 per cent, while the share disagreeing has decreased by 1 per cent to 15 per cent. The remainder of the answers were “either/or” or “don’t know”.

The number who strongly or on the whole disagree with the statement “Most immigrants represent a source of insecurity in society” also saw an increase in 2014. The share rejecting the statement is now 60 per cent; 8 percentage points higher than last year. Twenty-eight per cent agree with the statement, while 10 per cent answered “either/or”. When the question was posed in the early 2000s, there was a weak dominance of people agreeing with the statement (45 compared to 41 per cent). Despite some of the field work being carried out in the days following the official terror warning issued in the summer, the answers do not appear to be affected.

The present survey also shows a fall of 3 percentage points in the share believing that “Most immigrants abuse the social welfare system”, while the share disagreeing has increased by 4 percentage points. Fifty-four per cent of people now disagree with the statement, while 29 per cent agree.

All changes mentioned above are statistically significant at a 5 per cent level. The sample consisted of 2 000 persons, 1 082 of whom were interviewed.

The final part of the report shows how various indicators of attitudes towards immigrants and immigration vary according to background factors. In some questions, women are more liberal or benevolent than men. The eldest groups (67-79 years) are generally more sceptical towards immigrants and immigration than other age groups, while the 25-44 age group is the most “immigrant friendly”. The youngest groups (16-24 years) are the most tolerant in some areas – such as acceptance of inter-ethnic marriage and rejection of demands for assimilation. Broken down by education, the most accepting attitudes towards immigrants and immigration are found among those with a higher education. The disparity in attitudes between education groups is generally greatest between persons whose highest level of education is upper secondary and those with a college or university education of less than five years.

As for the urban/rural dimension, the smallest degree of benevolence is often found in the most rural areas and the greatest in the most urban areas (more than 100 000 inhabitants). By geographic region, Akershus and Oslo are generally the most liberal, but other regions can be equally or more liberal in a few specific areas. By main economic activity, persons in employment and pupils/students appear to be the most open minded towards immigrants and immigration, while people receiving social welfare or pensions are the most critical. Those who have contact with immigrants, often with many people in different areas of life, are also more accommodating than those with no contact. Persons who have an immigrant background themselves, especially from Europe and North America, also tend to be more positive. This group only makes up 5 per cent of the sample.