The second Migration Policy Scotland Attitudes Survey updates understanding of what the Scottish public thinks about immigration developing an evidence base that helps policymakers and others make better informed choices in a complex and changing context
Key findings:
Survey responses suggest a pragmatic outlook on the contribution immigration makes to the Scottish economy. There is widespread support for employers to recruit from abroad, strong agreement that immigration helps fill jobs where workers are needed and clear support for increasing or maintaining the current number of work and study visas.
Views on the impacts of immigration remain more positive than negative, especially at national level. Importantly given Scotland’s population concerns, there is strong agreement that immigration brings new people to areas that need them and a clear majority in favour of longer-term stays and access to settlement for labour migrants.
The largest group of respondents prefers a reduction in the level of immigration (42%). This is a shift from 12 months ago where the largest group preferred an increase. However, in contrast to UK-wide surveys, the proportion favouring a reduction is not currently the majority.
The raw data is available on request: info@migrationpolicyscotland.org.uk