American journal of health behavior
Volume 43, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 866-876

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

Liang Y. , Wei Y. , Wang S. , Gong S. , Dong Y. , Gao L. , Zhou Y. , Ye N.
  • a PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing, China; Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • b Researcher, London, United Kingdom
  • c Research Fellow, Centre for Business Research and Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Email: [email protected]; Alexander Academy, Vancouver, Canada
  • d Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
  • e Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • f School of Economics, Renmin University of China, China
  • g Shanxi Eye Hospital, Taiyuan, China
  • h Nanjing Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

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.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

male controlled study England female human major clinical study immigrant social class linear regression analysis public policy neighborhood resident Article immigration adult human experiment life satisfaction
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85068837771&doi=10.5993%2fAJHB.43.4.18&partnerID=40&md5=96ced7c8edd9cecc9efa576970f30719
DOI: 10.5993/AJHB.43.4.18
ISSN: 19457359
Original Language: English