MIGRATION ATTITUDES IN GERMANY AND THE UK IN TIMES OF CHANGE - A quantitative study comparing attitudes toward migration in 2002 and 2016

Abstract

This paper studies differences in migration attitudes between 2002 and 2016 in two of the most important European migration countries, Germany and the United Kingdom. These years are interesting from a migration perspective as 2002 was just before a large EU expansion, while 2016 was just after the migration crisis of 2015, and the year of the Brexit referendum. The research question in this paper is: how have the attitudes toward migration changed between 2002 and 2016 in the United Kingdom and Germany? Using different regression models, differences can be found between the years. The findings show, opposing common perceptions, that the attitudes are more positive in 2016 than in 2002. Also, that Germans are slightly more positive than British individuals toward migration. Other findings show that education and income have a positive impact on attitudes, and that age and political placement have a negative impact on attitudes toward migration. The findings correspond well with previous literature and the results are as expected. None of the independent variables used in this study are sufficient to explain the change in attitudes.