People in disadvantaged communities have more negative attitude towards immigration, ESRI report finds
immigration
, particularly in areas where there has been an increase in migrants, new research has found.
The study by the
Economic and Social Research Institute
(ESRI) looked at how different types of communities shaped people's attitudes towards immigration in Ireland.
The analysis is based on a 2023
Department of Equality
survey on Irish attitudes towards migration and is combined with 2022
census
data on the characteristics of communities.
The study defines disadvantaged areas as places with higher proportions of households headed by lone parents, the unemployed and those with a low education level or semi-skilled/unskilled jobs.
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People living in these areas are less positive about immigration, with researchers quoting previous studies that found there is a 'greater perceived resource threat' among people in these areas, 'given more economically precarious individuals are likely to feel immigration is a particular threat to their position and resources'.
While this negative attitude towards immigration in disadvantaged areas increased when the share of migrants went up, the paper also found that migrants are not more likely to live in these disadvantaged communities.
It found the largest increase of migrant share between 2011 and 2022 happened in areas that are the least disadvantaged.
The research also found that those living in rural areas had more negative attitudes towards immigration, compared with those living in urban areas.
However, rural areas with high percentages of migrants had similar attitudes toward immigration as those in urban areas.
The research also found that people living in more segregated areas, where migrants are living in clusters, have more negative attitudes towards immigration.
The paper says this may reflect the importance of social contact with migrants for fostering more positive attitudes.
'This has important implications for policies aimed at improving migrant integration, but also indicates that broader economic and social policies and factors play a key role in social cohesion and attitudes towards immigration,' the paper says.
There was no link between people living in areas with greater pressure on services such as health, housing and education and holding a more negative attitude towards immigration.
This indicates that it may not be direct local experiences that affect attitudes but may instead be 'concern about pressure on services in Ireland as a whole', the paper says.
Report author Fran McGinnity said the research 'shows that local communities can generate both obstacles to, but also opportunities for, social integration between non-migrants and migrants'.
'Communities are spaces where migrants and non-migrants not only encounter each other but can also form lasting social ties. This could be as next-door neighbours, as parents of children going to the same school, or in community groups.
'This kind of positive social contact between migrants and non-migrants can go a long way to generating positive relations between groups as well as building stronger, more cohesive communities in the long run,' Ms McGinnity said.
Meanwhile, co-author of the report Keire Murphy said the research gives 'important insight into what makes anti-immigrant sentiment more likely'.
'Echoing international findings, socioeconomic factors like community-level disadvantage seem to matter, implying that the broader social and economic context is important for attitudes towards immigration,' Ms Murphy said.
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