Impact of International Immigration on Life Satisfaction of Local Residents in England: Exploring the Differentiated Relationships across Socioeconomic Gradients.

Abstract

Objectives: Large-scale influxes of international immigrants into England have stimulated heated debate about whether the increasing ethnic diversity has undermined local residents' life satisfaction and wellbeing. In this paper, we provide the first nationally representative evidence on the relationship between international immigration and local residents' life satisfaction in England. Methods: We used multilevel linear regression models to analyze nationally representative data (2011-2012) from 23,143 respondents and neighborhood level data from the 2011 Census. Results: The results show that the local share of international immigrants who arrived in 2010-2011, in particular the non-white immigrants, has a significantly adverse impact on local people's life satisfaction. Further analysis shows that the adverse impact of migration is particularly pronounced for local residents who do not have a job or from intermediate social class. Conclusions: This study enables a better understanding of the link between international immigration and life satisfaction, highlighting the need of public policies to be more targeted to areas that experienced great influxes of international immigrants by facilitating positive interactions and communication between international immigrants and the local residents.