British Social Attitudes: Growing polarisation in attitudes towards immigration

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Britain has experienced record levels of net migration. As a result, the issue has been the focus of a key policy debate in the run-up to the general election. Today, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) publishes its latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) report, which shows that, overall, attitudes towards immigration became markedly more liberal between 2014 and 2021, though also more polarised.

However, the report also shows that the trend towards a more liberal outlook has now been somewhat reversed – though the increased polarisation of attitudes has remained.

Attitudes moved in a more liberal direction since 2014

Across a variety of measures, attitudes towards immigration moved in a more liberal direction between 2014 and 2021.

• In 2014, 30% thought that migrants were good for the economy. By 2021, the figure had increased to 59%.
• In 2014, just 8% said that Britain should allow many more people from poorer countries outside Europe to come to the UK. This rose to 31% by 2021.
• Immigration was regarded as making Britain a better place to live by 29% in 2014. In 2021, as many as 55% felt that way.

Since 2021, this trend has been partially reversed:

• From 51% in 2021, the proportion who said that migrants are good for the economy was 48% in late 2022, but by the beginning of this year, it had fallen to 40%.
• Similarly, in 2021, 48% said that migrants enriched Britain’s cultural life. The figure remained 48% in late 2022, while the most recent reading is 43%.

Even so, people still have a more favourable attitude toward immigration now than in 2014.

A polarisation of views

Younger people have always been more liberal than older people in their attitudes towards immigration, while those with few educational qualifications have always been less liberal than graduates. However, these differences widened as attitudes became more liberal between 2014 and 2021.

• In 2010, those aged 15-24 (19%) were 16 points more likely than those aged 75 and over (3%) to say that many more people from the same racial and ethnic group as the majority should be allowed to come to Britain. By 2021, the difference was 42 points (61% and 19% respectively).
• In 2014, graduates (16%) were ten points more likely than those with no educational qualifications (6%) to say that many more people from poorer countries outside Europe should be allowed to come to Britain. By 2021, the difference was 22 points (40% and 18%, respectively.

There has always been a difference between Conservative and Labour supporters in their attitudes towards immigration, but that gap has widened.

• While 15% of Conservative supporters thought in 2011 that migrants were good for the economy, 29% of Labour identifiers felt that way, a difference of 14 points. By 2021 that gap had increased to 30 points, with 35% of Conservative supporters and 65% of their Labour counterparts expressing that view.
• In our most recent survey, the gap is, at 29 points, almost wholly unchanged (Conservatives, 24%, Labour 53%), although positive views of immigration have decreased somewhat among supporters of both parties between 2021 and 2023.

Party supporters disagree on immigration policy

Conservative and Labour supporters also disagree on many details of immigration policy.

• 74% of Labour supporters think that the NHS should be free to recruit as many doctors and nurses from other countries as it wants. 54% of Conservatives believe the government should limit the number of nurses and doctors recruited from overseas.
• 70% of Conservative supporters believe that someone should have to be earning more than £28K to be allowed to bring a spouse or family member into the UK. 71% of Labour identifiers believe the income requirement should be less than £28K.
• 70% of Labour supporters think that migrants who apply for British citizenship should have to pay no more than the cost of processing their application. 61% of Conservatives believe the government should charge more and make a profit.

Gillian Prior, Interim Chief Executive at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), says: “Public attitudes toward immigration have become significantly more positive since 2014. This trend has occasioned, in part, by the more liberal views of younger people entering adulthood and the fact that recent high levels of immigration mean more people have had contact with migrants, and by a trend over the last decade towards more liberal attitudes generally. Yet, at the same time, it is an issue on which we have become more divided both socially and politically, and attitudes have shifted somewhat in the opposite direction more recently. This helps to explain why the subject has become one of the central issues in the current general election campaign.”