Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables, figures and boxes
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Making sense of race statistics
- 3 Challenging the myth that ‘Britain takes too many immigrants’
- 4 Challenging the myth that ‘So many minorities cannot be integrated’
- 5 Challenging the myth that ‘Minorities do not want to integrate’
- 6 Challenging the myth that ‘Britain is becoming a country of ghettos’
- 7 Challenging the myth of ‘Minority White Cities’
- 8 Conclusion
- Myths and counterarguments: a quick reference summary
- References
- Index
Myths and counterarguments: a quick reference summary
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables, figures and boxes
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Making sense of race statistics
- 3 Challenging the myth that ‘Britain takes too many immigrants’
- 4 Challenging the myth that ‘So many minorities cannot be integrated’
- 5 Challenging the myth that ‘Minorities do not want to integrate’
- 6 Challenging the myth that ‘Britain is becoming a country of ghettos’
- 7 Challenging the myth of ‘Minority White Cities’
- 8 Conclusion
- Myths and counterarguments: a quick reference summary
- References
- Index
Summary
Immigration
The evidence: The UK experience of international migration is not remarkable when set in a global context
The myth: Britain has an unfair share of immigrants
• The number of immigrants in Britain (foreign-born) increased from 2.6 million in 1961 to 5.4 million in 2005. This rise of 110% is the same as the worldwide increase. These UN calculations take into account the changes in boundaries in Europe and the Soviet Union (pp 55-56).
• Increased international migration is a common experience for developed, economically strong nations. Immigration is expected for countries with strong economies as international moves are shaped by patterns of supply and demand of jobs and labour (pp 59, 84-85).
• Not only has the UK’s immigration grown in line with world migration, but the UK has a smaller proportion of immigrants and lower rates of net immigration than the US, Canada, Australia and several large European countries (pp 55-56, 59-60, Table 3.2).
• Less than 3% of the world’s migrants live in the UK compared with 5% in Germany and 20% in the US (pp 59-60).
• Migrants (those born outside the country) make up 9% of the population in the UK compared with 12% in Germany and 13% in the US. 9% is the average for Europe (p 60, Table 3.2).
• The UK’s net in-migration rate is 2 per 1,000 population compared with 3 in Germany and 4 in the US (p 60, Table 3.2).
For more on Britain’s immigration experience in global context, see Chapter Three.
The evidence: Measurement of international migration requires care, and recognition of the diversity of migrants
The myth: We all know how much immigration there is (too much)
• The challenges of measuring international migration do not justify an assumption that levels of immigration are problematically large (pp 54-56).
• Ethnicity and immigration should not be confused: half of all minority residents were born in the UK and two thirds of immigrants are White (p 57).
• Undocumented migration is by its nature not measurable (and can only be estimated), except after an amnesty (p 57).
For more on measuring immigration, see Chapter Three.
The evidence: Immigrants are diverse and increasingly short-term stayers The myth: Britain’s flooded with problem immigrants
• Immigration to Britain in the year prior to the last census was equivalent to less than 1% of the population.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sleepwalking to Segregation'?Challenging Myths about Race and Migration, pp. 177 - 192Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2009