Educational experience is the primary driver of the UK’s divide on immigration and politics

A new report from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) reveals that educational background is the most important driver of attitudes towards immigration and support for right-wing politics in the UK. This contrasts sharply with the United States, where political alignment reflects a much broader mix of identities, including ethnicity, gender, age, and financial insecurity.

The report,‘Demographic Divides: What Drives Attitudes in the UK and US?’ , builds on NatCen’s earlier released UK US attitudes report by examining how demographic factors shape political support and social attitudes in both countries. It finds that although both societies are polarised, they are divided along very different lines.

Key findings

Educational experience is the strongest driver of right-wing support in the UK

• In the UK, people  with qualifications below A level  have more than double the likelihood of supporting the Conservatives or Reform UK compared to those with higher levels of education.
• Education divides attitudes on immigration and diversity more sharply in the UK than in the US, with much wider gaps between graduates and non-graduates.
• 55% of people in the UK with below A-level qualifications think immigrants living in the country without permission should not be allowed to stay, vs 36% of degree holders.

Right-wing support in the US reflects a broader coalition

• In the US, support for Donald Trump is independently shaped by ethnicity, religion, gender, age, financial precarity and whether someone lives in a rural area.
• Ethnicity and religion play a more important role in predicting support for Trump in the US than they do  in predicting right-wing party support in the UK

Age divides attitudes in both countries – but more strongly in the US

• Generational divides are sharper and more frequent in the US, particularly on views on their country  and the role of government.
• Younger Americans are far more likely than older generations to say other countries are better than the US, a divide that does not exist in the UK.
• 40% of Americans aged 18–29 say other countries are better than the US, vs 9% of over-65s. In the UK, roughly half of both the youngest (51%) and oldest (46%) generations agree that there are other better than the UK.

Gender gaps are larger and more entrenched in the US

• Men in both countries tend to hold more conservative views on issues such as gender roles, abortion and the size of government.
• However, these gender divides are consistently wider in the US, reflecting a more established political gender gap.
• Men in both countries are more likely than women to believe that barriers to female advancement have disappeared, but the divide is sharper in the US.
• In the US, 61% of men believe obstacles for women are "largely gone" compared to 33% of women, a 28-point gap. In the UK, 53% of men hold this view compared to 32% of women, a 21-point gap.

Alex Scholes, Research Director at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), said: “Right-wing politics in the UK and the US are often compared, but our findings show that they are built on different foundations.

In Britain, education stands out as the most important dividing line, particularly on immigration and diversity. In the US, support for the right reflects a much denser mix of identities, including ethnicity, religion, gender, age and economic insecurity.

These differences help explain why political polarisation looks and feels different between the UK and US, and why debates that dominate in one country do not always translate to the other.”