Abstract
AbstractThis paper analyses the impact that diversity has on life satisfaction of people living in England. In England, and in many other countries, local communities are becoming more diverse in terms of country of birth, ethnicity and religion of residents, with unclear consequences on the well-being of people living in these communities. The results suggest that white British people living in diverse areas have on average lower levels of life satisfaction than those living in areas where diversity is low, while there is no correlation on average between diversity and life satisfaction for non-white British people and foreign born.JEL codesJ31, J61, R23
Highlights
One of the consequences of international migration is that in many countries local communities are becoming more diverse in terms of country of birth, ethnicity, and religion
White British people living in more diverse areas in terms of countries of birth and ethnicity have lower levels of life satisfaction on average than those living in areas where diversity is low
The current levels of international migration mean that modern societies are experiencing unprecedented levels of diversity
Summary
One of the consequences of international migration is that in many countries local communities are becoming more diverse in terms of country of birth, ethnicity, and religion. Betz and Simpson (2013) use cross-section data from the European Social Survey to analyse the impact of immigration on well-being of natives across European countries. Assimilation of immigrants in the way measured by the previous literature is a different concept from diversity: even people who feel they belong to the host country may still have diverse lifestyles that are inherited from their cultural upbringing. The correlation between diversity and life satisfaction is more likely to be negative for those who have spent only few years at the current address and for those who do not feel that there is a large social capital in their neighbourhood These results point to the possibility that people may adapt to diversity. If this is the case, the problem that policy makers face is not the level of diversity, but the relationship between how quickly diversity increases, and how quickly residents are able to adapt to it
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